Fidelity Bravery Integrity
by TheUSofCalzona
Summary: Arizona Robbins and Callie Torres are FBI agents and former lovers. When Arizona gets the change to head her dream team she makes the choice to put Callie on the team despite her personally reservations. What happens when their past comes rushing forward into the present?
1. Chapter 1

A/N - Co-Written with Walking_Weapon on LJ. :)

This has been a story that is a long time in the making. And we're still working on later chapters to get them as close to perfect as we can. It's a big 9 chapter story that needs a lot of attention.

A few notes before we start. The FBI info comes from watching a lot of Criminal Minds and a few Wiki searches. So don't be too upset if we got some things wrong. Also I know the BAU is out of VA and that it doesn't really do what is does on TV.

For the sake of the fic we have Arizona is a Supervisory Special Agent, Callie as a Senior Special Agent and the rest as Special Agents. While this isn't right we didn't find out until after we wrote it so we decided not to change it.

Anyway let's get to the fun, hope you all enjoy. Please review if you want to tell us what you think!

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Fidelity, bravery, and integrity were the words that Arizona Robbins lived by. She felt like she had been in the service all her life, that those words were a part of who she was. Her father was a Marine; so were most of the men in her family, and after she herself served she joined the FBI. She was now a Supervisory Special Agent in the San Francisco field office, and thankfully, after years of hard work, she had been given the chance to put together a BAU, a Behavioral Analysis Unit. She was able to pick her team from that office, and she had her eyes set on a few of the best agents she had ever worked with.

"Hey, Alex. Got a second?" Arizona smiled as she knocked on his office door. Alex Karev had been one of the agents she had trained herself and he had turned into a great agent and a pretty good guy, thanks to her and his girlfriend.

"Of course, ma'am." Alex smiled, always happy to see his mentor, at least when he was confident he hadn't done something to warrant a chewing out. "What brings you down here? Get bored of sipping coffee with the brass?" he teased.

"Ma'am? When did you stop calling me Boss?" Arizona sat down in the chair across from his desk. On it were photos of his girlfriend and their little boy. "How old is Dex now?" She tilted her head, trying to remember.

"He'll be three at the end of the month." Alex smiled fondly. "Actually, I've been meaning to call you to see if you can make it to his party. I know a house of screaming kids isn't your thing, but it would make his day to have you there."

"Tell Dexter I wouldn't miss it for the world. I would love to be there. As long as you have something for the grown-ups to drink after." Arizona knew that Alex always had craft beer in his cooler for his friends.

"I'll have a cooler with your name on it." Alex smirked with a nod. "So...not that I mind the visit, but what's up? Last I heard, you were swamped with that Martinez kidnapping and drug case."

Arizona leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other. She wore today what she had always worn to work: a black suit with a white shirt with two buttons undone, a gun on her ankle and one on her belt with her badge on the other side. "You heard they are finally letting me put together a BAU team, right?" She knew he had, but she wanted to see what kind of answer he'd give.

"Someone might have mentioned something in the break room." Alex shrugged, trying not to look too interested. "I can't say I'm surprised. You're damn good at your job. It's about time you got to call the big shots."

"I could use someone on the team to break down the doors, get me coffee, and puff his chest out now and then." Arizona smirked a little bit at her protegé. "Know anyone who could do that?"

"If I get to work cases too, then I'm totally your man. Better to be your bitch than Stark's," Alex said, making a face. "If you really want me on your team, then you've got it. I'd love to be on board."

"I'll send the paperwork over to you today, then. We start officially next Monday, so be in my office at 9 AM for a staff meeting," Arizona said with a small smile. She'd known he was going to say yes, but she was still relieved to actually hear it when he did. She stood up, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And tell April I said hi."

"Will do, Boss." Alex grinned, beyond happy to be back working with Arizona, not to mention that getting on the BAU was a hell of a bump up in status around here. "I'll see you Monday."

After her quick meeting with Alex, Arizona felt excited. She had been able to get the first member of her team to agree to be on it, so hopefully that good trend would continue. Now she had to go to the bat cave, a.k.a. the office of the techno wizard herself, Cristina Yang. Yang was not an easy person to work with or, you know, to have a conversation with. And with a husband in the CIA, she took to saying things were classified just to get out of talking to people about him or their relationship.

"Enter if you dare," Cristina said when she heard a knock at her door, not bothering to turn around. No one really bothered her, so it was probably just some lackey trying to get a report from her or get the director's phone fixed. Again.

"If I dare? What are you, a knockoff of _Twilight_?" Arizona mocked her a little, only because she knew Cristina was mostly all bark. "I need to ask you something, and a straight answer would be great."

"Ask away, but I reserve the right to say it's classified." Cristina smirked, snatching one of her action figures from Arizona's exploring hands. She never really got tired of that excuse.

"I don't care about your sex life." Arizona rolled her eyes at Cristina. "I know you know about the new BAU and I know you hacked my computer to see if your name was on my list. So will you accept?"

"Was the rest of the list for real? You're getting Torres on the team?" Cristina asked, studying Arizona closely. She wasn't sure what had happened between them, and she didn't want to know, but she liked Torres. As much as she liked anyone, anyway. She wanted to know if she was headed into the middle of a big old lesbian shit storm.

"Seriously?" Arizona groaned at the question, really not wanting to have to answer her. "Yes or no to joining the team?" she asked again. She wanted to get a straight answer and be on her way; she was going to dinner with Teddy tonight and had to go home to change first. "Because I could get Jackson to do it," she added, knowing that would get an answer fast.

"Oh, hell no. No way is that trumped-up nerd getting near a real team. I'm in. Just keep your girly drama out of my way and we're fine," Cristina declared quickly.

"Good. Monday, 9 AM, briefing room 3. And for the record, Callie and I are over, so you won't have to deal with anything like that. That ship sank faster and deeper than the Titanic." Arizona didn't really want to think of her ex-lover anymore. It made her want to shoot something when she did.

"The Titanic didn't actually sink all that fast," Cristina shrugged, already turning back to her computers. No way did she want to get dragged into a long conversation on relationships and crap. Handling Owen was bad enough. He could be worse then a woman.

"Hey, Teddy." Arizona smiled, walking up to the table where her friend was already sitting. She was only a few moments later than she wanted to be. Normally when she was late, it was by hours, but Teddy was a very understanding friend. Having been in the FBI just as long as Arizona had, she understood the demands of the job.

"Hey, Arizona." Teddy smiled back, glad to be having dinner for a good reason for once. "So it's true? You got the team? Congratulations. No one deserves it as much as you." She smiled proudly, thrilled for her friend. She didn't know anyone more dedicated to the job or more deserving of this promotion then Arizona and it made her happy when she'd heard the news.

"I had to kiss a lot of brass, but I finally got it." Arizona grinned as she ordered a glass of wine when the waiter came over, allowing herself a moment to show her emotions a bit. "So, I'm just going to come out and ask. Will you be on the team? I want to work with you again, finally." She gave Teddy a hopeful grin, ready to hear yes.

"God, Arizona, I want to say yes, but…Henry and I are talking about finally starting a family," Teddy sighed, looking troubled and really torn. "I mean, I want on, of course I want on. But all the time away and the being on call..." She trailed off, fiddling with her napkin.

"Oh," Arizona murmured, feeling like a balloon that had been popped. She was going to ask Teddy to be her number two on the team. "Teddy, I mean, I want you on the team. Hell, I was going to offer you the Senior Special Agent position, but if you can't, I'll understand."

"I can't take a senior position. I need to be able to step back a bit and have less paperwork. If I did this, I'd need as much time at home as I could get," Teddy said, really not wanting to say no. It was such a great opportunity and working with Arizona again would be a huge perk.

"I understand." Arizona nodded, trying to think of a way to make this work. "So take the spot on the team, just as an agent. I still have one more person to ask to be on the team and I can give the position to her. You can just be a cog in the wheel." She gave a careful smile, hoping Teddy would say yes.

"Yeah, yeah, that could work. And it's not like I wouldn't get maternity leave when the time came. And I could hold down a desk for a bit too, to stay out of the line of fire once I was pregnant. Everyone would understand," Teddy said, trying to convince herself it'd work. "Who am I kidding? I can't say no to this. Unless Henry really flips out, I'm in," she said, knowing her husband was too easy-going to really make an issue of it.

"Thank you," Arizona sighed as she leaned over the table and hugged Teddy, glad she had her friend back on her side. "I am really happy to have you on the team. Alex and Cristina will be too. They know how good you are. Even Cristina would admit that." She felt herself relax a little as more of this all came together.

"No, she wouldn't," Teddy snorted, shaking her head. "But I'm glad she's on board. Life is so much harder with a shitty tech analyst. And Alex is a great agent, too." She nodded, glancing at the menu one last time before turning to the approaching waiter and putting in her order for a steak. "So who's going to be your number two then? Alex doesn't have the seniority."

"Lemon chicken with rice." Arizona quickly said when the waiter came over to take their order, unable to help it as she shifted in her chair a little bit. She was really glad she had a few extra seconds and maybe a chance to change the subject.

"Arizona, who is it? If it's Alex, then I'm okay with that. I mean, I kind of outrank him technically, but I won't make an issue of it. But you need another field agent on the team. Who it is?" Teddy pressed, wracking her brain. Oh no… "Wait…Tell me it isn't Torres. Arizona Robbins, tell me that loose cannon is not the other member of the team," she demanded.

"She's one of the best agents I have ever worked with, not to mention that she is one of the few on the team who has worked on a BAU team in another office." Arizona rubbed her eyes, trying her very best not to say anything that Teddy would use against her later.

"Yeah, an office she got booted out of under less than clear circumstances. I mean, word on the street is that she lost her shit," Teddy snapped, but still managed to keep her voice down. "How can you be sure she's still as good of an agent as you remember, huh? And don't tell me this is only a professional courtesy and not a personal one, too."

"Teddy…" Arizona sighed, running a hand through her hair as she took a breath, letting it out slowly. "I wish that I could say there's nothing personal about it, but you know that's not true. Callie is still a damn good agent. I looked her up and talked to her boss. I'm not going in blind."

"All right," Teddy relented after studying Arizona closely for a few tense minutes. She didn't have to like it, but she did have to trust her friend. "All right, if you say so, then I'll let it drop. Don't expect me to welcome her with open arms after last time I saw her, but I'll be professional."

"Last time you saw her, I was crying and we had been fighting. You don't get to hold that against her. I was as much to blame for that fight as she was," Arizona warned, not wanting to have to act as a go-between for two of her senior agents.

"Yeah, well, she still hurt my best friend," Teddy added, giving Arizona a look. "I'll be professional. I won't let how I feel about her mess with a case and I won't bring the past up. That's between the two of you and that's where it'll stay."

"Thank you for at least being able to be professional." Arizona reached over and took her friend's hand. "So tell me about you and Henry. You two finally decided to have the baby, have you?" She was eager to shift the conversation to something else.

"Yeah...looks like it," Teddy said, blushing a bit. She was glad for the topic change and more than willing to play into Arizona's hand. "We kind of just decided…fuck it. We've been waiting and talking and planning and we're just…over it. We're going to start trying and see what happens. We're not getting any younger, right?"

"Now that six dollars a week you spend in condoms could go toward diapers," Arizona winked, glad to have something much lighter to talk about. It was nice to forget they were both with the FBI and have a conversation about something else for once. "Is he excited that 'll finally have a baby to pass on his love of hockey to?"

"He is. He already bought a little Boston Bruins onesie," Teddy chuckles. "He told me he didn't care if it was a boy or a girl so long as the baby was healthy and could skate. He's such a dork." She giggled a bit, glad for the chance to be so relaxed and let her hair down, so to speak.

"I think you are going to spend many days watching him skate around the rink with the baby in his arms." Arizona knew how fantastic something like that sounded to her friend. "You're a lucky woman, you know. I can't wait to meet my godchild," she teased.

"Oh? And who says you're going to be the godmother, huh?" Teddy challenged playfully, smirking at her best friend. She wasn't sure she ever would have made it through basic without Arizona. And even with all the time apart over the years, they kept winding up in the same places.

"The bullet hole in my ass from saving you." Arizona winked, finishing her wine and ordering a glass of water. "And maybe the four cracked ribs from pulling that guy off you who was hyped up on something in New York."

"Shit. I think I still have a bruise from that moron." Teddy grimaced a bit. "Okay, fine. You win. You can be godmother. But no telling the baby crazy stories of my misspent youth."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say," Arizona said with a perky tone. They both knew there wasn't a shot in hell of that happening. She and Teddy had been friends for too long and she had too many juicy stories not to pass a few on to the next generation.

"At least wait until the baby's old enough to have a shot at not getting killed or caught doing some of it, huh?" Teddy sighed, knowing she was in for a world of trouble with a boy or a girl. Arizona would have the kid corrupted and picking locks or something crazy by age 5 at the very least.

"You really want me to make you a promise that I have no intention of keeping?" Arizona tilted her head and gave Teddy a smirk. "I'll make it, but only if you know it will be broken."

"At least pretend. For Henry's sake," Teddy sighed, shaking her head at her friend. "So what about you? Still dating Julie or Jenna or whatever her name is?" she asked, knowing full well the answer was no.

"It was Jamie, and no. I wasn't very into her anyway. She liked to lick my face when we had sex. It was like making love to a cat." Arizona shivered at the mental image. "Besides, she was just a little break to end my dry spell."

"Uh huh," Teddy said with a knowing look. She also knew full well that one Calliope Torres did a number on her friend and it was a relationship she still hadn't fully recovered from. "Who knew Miss Different Girl Every Night was so picky?" She smirked.

"I was never that bad, really. I think you're remembering things wrong," Arizona denied, not wanting to admit that Teddy was remembering everything just about right. She felt her cheeks redden, hating that she was known so well by her friend and hating that she used to be like that.

"Sure I am. Don't even try. I'm half the reason you didn't get discharged a million times over. All those girls I helped you sneak out, or even in on occasion," Teddy said, enjoying being able to rib her friend a bit.

"I would have been screwed if I was kicked out under DADT." Arizona knew her father would have been pissed, not that she was a lesbian (he had known that before she went in), but that she didn't live up to the standards set for her.

"Screwed is putting it mildly. Daddy dearest would still have you scrubbing latrines somewhere. Speaking of which, does he know about your promotion yet? He must be proud," Teddy said, grabbing her knife as their food arrived.

"He does. He and Mom called me the day I got it. It wasn't official yet, but I couldn't help but tell them. Timmy just got another promotion in the Marines, so they are pretty proud of the two of us right now." Arizona took a bite of her chicken, holding back a groan at how good it was.

"Good." Teddy nodded with a smile, knowing how hard it was for Arizona to grow up with her father's expectations and her family's legacy. "You should get Tim out here next time he has some leave. The three of us haven't caught up in ages."

"He thinks he's going to come out here in May for a few weeks. There is some training thing that he has to do." Taking a drink of her water, Arizona nearly choked. "Classy I am," she muttered, wiping her water off her shirt.

"Don't I know it?" Teddy laughed, handing Arizona a napkin. "Well, with any luck, I either won't be pregnant by then or I'll magically have made a baby by then so I can drink with you fools. Because God knows if I have to be sober, I will kill one or both of you."

"Remind me to take your gun away from you after you get pregnant. I wouldn't want you to get mad at Alex or Cristina and shoot them in the face on a bad day," Arizona snorted, knowing Teddy had a wee bit of a temper.

"Hmph. Stick me on desk duty and take my weapon. Yeah, right," Teddy muttered under her breath, glaring at Arizona and she munched on the last bit of her steak. If she was honest, then she'd admit Arizona was probably smart to plan to take her gun. Didn't mean she had to like it, though.

"Do you think I'm crazy to ask Callie to join the team?" Arizona finally asked as they got close to Teddy's car. The rest of dinner had been a ton of fun, just like always, but now they were headed to their cars and home for the night. God knew she needed the sleep since she had to talk to Callie tomorrow. "I really want her to be on the team, but am I crazy for asking?"

"Probably," Teddy sighed, stopping to look at her friend. "But that doesn't matter. All that matters is what you think is best for the team and yourself. I may not like Callie because of what happened, but she did make you happy for a while, so she must not be the devil incarnate." She shrugged, not really sure what to say.

"Damn it." Arizona put a hand on Teddy's car, trying to figure out how to express the feelings that were swimming around her head. "She's the best agent I've worked with besides you. She's a damn good profiler and she's the one who wanted this unit to start with. It would feel like a slap in the face to her if I didn't ask."

"And part of you still cares enough about her not to want to do that to her. Even if maybe you should," Teddy said gently. Animosity to Callie aside, she knew how hard this was for Arizona and she wasn't about to make it harder. "Look, is this the smartest plan? Probably not. But you're right; Callie is good at her job. She'll be good for the team."

"Thanks," Arizona said weakly as she leaned over, giving Teddy a tight hug. "Go home to your husband and try to give me my godchild. I need someone to teach all the bad things I learned as a kid." She gave Teddy a smile, though it didn't reach her eyes.

"Go get some sleep. Callie is usually at the range by 7 every morning. If you talk to her then, you'll at least get some privacy," Teddy offered with a small smile. "Seriously, sleep. I mean it," she ordered as she opened her car door.

The road that led to the range that most of the agents used was long and straight. It had very little in the way of interesting things on either side, which meant that as Arizona drove down the road just after 7 AM, there was little to distract her as she tried to remember she was going to talk to someone agent to agent, not go ask her ex-girlfriend to work with her - no, wait for her. Yeah, Callie was going to be working under her. That might not go over so well for her.

Taking a slow, calming breath, Callie opened her eyes and focused on her target. Another slow breath and she raised the gun and started firing, quickly and efficiently emptying her clip with deadly accuracy. Checking the chamber, she hit the safety and set her gun down before reaching for another clip. This was the one time of day when she felt most normal, most whole.

Arizona knew that Callie always took the booth at the far end, not wanting to have people on both sides of her. Given the early hour, it wasn't it was hard to spot her ex, either. As she walked down the line she almost felt like she shouldn't be here, like she was walking in on someone in a church. Seeing Callie lifting her gun again she stopped, waiting for her to finish so as not to distract her, before moving again.

"Arizona…" Callie gasped softly when she turned and saw her former lover. Her heart did a flip flop in her chest and she could feel her palms starting to sweat. Even after all this time Arizona still had that kind of effect on her. It was all she could do not to comment on how the early morning sun made her hair glow. That wasn't who she was anymore, not who they were. "What can I do for you, ma'am?" She asked, clearing her throat.

It hurt, it hurt a lot, Arizona thought to herself as she looked at Callie standing before her. She had lost some weight and didn't have the sparkle in her eye like she did before. But she still looked amazing with the gun in her hand, just as badass as always. "I want to talk about a job opening on the new BAU team I'm heading."

"Oh, yeah?" Callie said with more than a touch of bitterness. She knew it was partly her own fault that she wasn't even up for consideration, but it still stung. A lot. "Come to rub it in? Get my recommendation for who should fill the team, just like the Director asked for my recommendation on who should lead it?" she asked, jaw tight as she holstered her gun.

"I'm here to ask you to be the Senior Special Agent on the team. I know you and I have a past, but it doesn't matter. I know you are great at what you do. I want you on my team," Arizona said with a sigh. She saw the way Callie's jaw tightened, saw the way her fingers clenched the gun she was putting away. She hated that it had come to this between them.

"What?" Callie barked out, gaze snapping up to Arizona in shock. "You want me on the team? As your number 2? Why?" She asked incredulously, her guts churning and tying into knots. Any measure of calm and peace she gathered from shooting practice was well and truly shot now, pun intended.

"Because this should be your team, but we both know why it isn't. Because you are one of the best agents I know, but you have had a few knocks against you and I want to let you prove you're still the best. Because I still care that you get to have this unit here." Arizona didn't mention the main reason was that she was still in love with Callie. Now wasn't the time or the place.

"Nothing else? No ulterior revenge motives?" Callie asked half-heartedly. She couldn't believe she was this lucky, but she also knew Arizona wouldn't do that to her despite everything. She was too honorable for that. "Who else is on the team?" she asked, trying to buy time.

"Alex, Cristina, and Teddy." Arizona gripped one hand with the other in front of her. She needed to get out of here, to get far away from Callie until there was someone else around them. She wasn't sure she really trusted herself alone with Callie right now.

"Teddy? She know you're bringing me on?" Callie asked, fiddling with her holster before starting to walk toward the exit. She needed to move or she'd just stare at Arizona until she…well, until she did something she really couldn't do.

"She promised she would be fine if I brought you in. She might not ever be your best friend, but she's a good agent." Arizona nodded, not wanting to mislead or lie to Callie.

"All right," Callie sighed after a minute of silence, coming to a halt when they neared the exit. "All right. I'm in. I'm not going to stand here and act like I'm happy about it, but getting on the team is better than nothing," She nodded, swallowing a bit. This was beyond being a bittersweet moment for her and she was trying damn hard to try to take it all in.

"Callie…" Arizona lifted her hand, planning to put it on Callie's arm, but she held back. Did Callie just flinch? "I'm glad you said yes," she whispered as her hand dropped back down. "I'm not sure I could do it without you."

"You could. I know you could. That's why I recommended you when the Director asked," Callie admitted, looking away and clearing her throat. "Congratulations. For what it's worth, I'm proud of you," she muttered, feeling almost shy.

"I wish things were different, Calliope. I wish those fights never happened; I wish you were leading this team. I just wish things were the way we planned them," Arizona said sadly, letting a bit of emotion slip out. The fact that Callie recommended her, over all the other agents she could have recommended, made Arizona feel horrible for some reason.

"Yeah, well…life doesn't go how you plan it. Best laid plans of mice or men, or whatever…" Callie said, clearing her throat again and fighting back her emotions. Arizona's words were hitting her hard and she needed to get the hell out of here. "I should get going, go get started on wrapping up my current cases," she said, already turning to walk away.

"Calliope," Arizona called, holding out a gun. It was a pretty ordinary Glock 22 that had a scrape on the handle. "You should have this back." When she and Callie first started dating, Callie had given her the gun as a backup piece. It had been given to Callie by her father when she became an agent.

"I…uh…" Callie stammered before her throat closed up. So many emotions were attached to that weapon that she was almost glad Arizona had kept it when they'd split. There was a time or two when she thought about ending it and if she'd had that piece, she just might have. "That…uh…was a gift. You should keep it," she said, not trusting herself to reach for it.

"Your dad gave it to you." Arizona's holster felt empty without the gun safely tucked away in it, but she didn't want to keep it on her hip with Callie on her team. Not without trying to give it back first, at least.

"He's dead," Callie said quietly, letting out a shaky breath. "He…uh…he passed away a few years ago, just before I ended up stationed back here. So I…uh…I'm not sure I can take that back," she said, swallowing hard as memories rose unbidden to her mind.

"Oh," Arizona murmured woodenly. The gun in her hand felt like it just turned to lead as she moved it from between her and Callie and put it back in her holster. "I'm so sorry, Callie. I didn't know." She took a step forward and then another, until she was hugging Callie. She knew it wasn't her place anymore, but she felt a little crushed that he was gone. He was the first in the family to accept her as Callie's girlfriend.

"I'm fine," Callie said instinctively as she stood stiffly in Arizona's embrace, not moving and barely even breathing. Hell, she wasn't actually sure she _was _breathing as her mind and body were overwhelmed with the feel and scent and just pure closeness of the woman who still owned her heart. "It's fine. It's been a few years, and you didn't know. I'm fine," she forced out, slipping out of Arizona's embrace. She left unsaid the fact that she had nearly called Arizona and begged her to come to the funeral, to hold her hand and help her through it. But she knew that wasn't fair. "I really should go, but uh…Monday, I guess, we'll be meeting?" she asked, putting a few feet of distance between them.

"I wish I had known. I would have liked to go to the funeral," Arizona muttered, shocked that Carlos Torres was gone. He had never been the warmest man to her, but she respected him quite a lot. She felt an ache in her chest that she hadn't felt before, the kind of feeling that left you hollowed out and cold inside. "Yeah, in the conference room, 9 AM." She shook her head to clear out the thoughts.

"Okay, great. I'll see you then," Callie said hurriedly, nodding curtly and quickly turning away and speed walking to her car. She had to get out of there, away from Arizona, just…space, she just needed space. The bitter irony that she needed space from her new boss, whom she would be seeing again in a few days and working closely with, wasn't lost on her, but she shelved that to handle another day. Or preferably not at all.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - Co-Written with Walking_Weapon on LJ. :)

Thank you all for your support on chapter 1! We are really glad that you enjoyed it as much as you seamed to.

In chapter 2 we have the first case for Arizona's new team and a bit of the past coming out between Callie and Arizona. But trust me when I say there I more than meets the eye.

Thank you Anna and Alida for your hard work.

Enjoy!

"What do we have?" Callie asked as she almost tripped into the briefing room, coffee in one hand and bagel held between her teeth. She had been dead to the world when the call came in and she so desperately wanted to go back to being that way. She really needed to invest in a new alarm clock, one she didn't want to throw against a wall every time it made a noise. She went to sit down near the middle of the table but suddenly found Teddy's briefcase on that chair. She only missed a beat, though, before moving around and sitting at the far end of the table.

"High Point, North Carolina has seen four lesbian couples murdered in their homes in the last three weeks. All the couples had a few things in common. First, all of the couples had at least one divorce in their past from a man, all had children, and all the couples had a blonde and a brunette. They were also killed the same way: the blonde was strangled with a rope and the brunette was stabbed in the heart," Arizona said as she passed each member of the team a folder with all the information in it.

"Personal. Very, very personal," Callie commented as she opened the folder, trying not to see similarities between Arizona and any of the victims. It was going to be hard enough to be objective as it was with the victims all being LGBT.

"Any other connections between the victims? School, work, book clubs…anything?" Alex asked as he, too, skimmed the folder.

"They all had different jobs, went to different gyms, ate in different places. The only thing they all had in common is that they were all on the GLAAD mailing list. But that isn't really a solid connection. I'm on that mailing list." Arizona looked around the table. "Alright, you know what to do. Wheels up in 20, we'll talk it out on the plane."

"This just has to be the first case..." Callie muttered to herself as she gathered up the folder and headed out to the bullpen to her desk. Thank God she had already left an overnight bag there or she'd be screwed. It had already been an awkward few days as everyone had tried to find their place; she didn't need to be adding to her stress level.

"Anyone have any ideas on this?" Arizona asked her team after everyone was settled on the plane, gathered in the center of the cabin as they headed down toward North Carolina. Cristina was in her Bat Cave trying to find any connections. "It feels like more than just a hate crime."

"It seems personal, especially with the stabbing in the heart. That's deliberate and it has to be for a reason. A jilted lover, a divorcée herself, maybe some religious connection…" Callie thought out loud, furrowing her brow. There was something she was missing, she could feel it.

"Were the kids home during the attacks?" Alex wondered out loud, trying to figure out why anyone would want to do something like this. It was hard enough to be gay without worrying if some sicko was going to come into your house and kill you for it.

"No," Teddy chimed in, leafing through the reports. "The kids were all at school, sports events, friends' houses…That can't be coincidence. It has to be planned. The unsub is watching them at least long enough to learn basic routines."

"All the fathers tried and failed to get custody," Arizona commented, knowing that had to mean something. She'd been doing this too long to believe in coincidences. "I think there is something to that. Maybe someone doesn't like a bunch of lesbians raising kids in their town."

"Enough to stab them and strangle them? That's a bit over the top for basic homophobia," Callie mused. "What if the unsub is male and his wife or girlfriend cheated with another woman or even left him for one? That might explain the personal details like stabbing the heart."

"Your wife goes, takes the kids, leaves you for a woman, making you feel less of a man," Arizona said, feeling that maybe it fit. "But why not just kill your ex and her girlfriend, play the grieving father and husband, and move on? Why do all of this?"

"Maybe he snapped? I mean, a guy is going to feel pretty emasculated by all of that, especially if he was an alpha male, and if he had issues with gays to begin with." Alex piped up, looking up from the file. They all shared a series of glances, knowing this was going to be a particularly tough case for them.

"Callie, you and Teddy go to the last house. It was only hit 12 hours ago, so everything is pretty fresh. Alex, you and I are going to go talk to the ME and see if he has anything that might help," Arizona said to the team when it was time to land. "Let's get this guy off the streets as fast as possible."

"You got it, Boss."_ Crap,_ Callie thought to herself, wishing she'd been paired with anyone but Teddy. Even being stuck working with Arizona would probably be better since they'd both at least avoid bringing anything up. She wasn't so sure about Teddy. "You want to drive?" she asked as they disembarked the plane and headed toward the waiting SUVs.

"You're the senior agent. You can drive if you want," Teddy said, sounding uninterested and cold. She had never been Callie's biggest fan. She had broken down Arizona's walls and then, once she was in, she left her bloody and raw. More than a few nights after fights, Arizona ended up on her couch crying with Teddy holding her.

"Okay, sure," Callie shrugged, taking the keys and getting in the driver's side. "Can you key in the address to the GPS for me?" she asked, glad for the chance to focus solely on the road as she maneuvered out of the parking lot and onto the busy highway. Gotta love rush hour.

"Yep," Teddy said shortly, doing as she was asked, not wanting this to take any more time than was needed. The last thing that she wanted was to be stuck with Callie for too long. She might not be able to hold her tongue. "I think he was married to the blonde."

"Sorry?" Callie blinked in confusion, pulling her attention off the road and glancing at Teddy. "Oh, for fuck's sake!" She yelled as she was cut off. Slamming on the sirens, she smirked as the car suddenly pulled onto the shoulder, giving her a clear path. "Um…sorry. Anyway, you were saying?"

"He had to be face to face with them, at least from the way the rope was tied and the marks on their necks. I think he was married to a blonde woman and she left him for a woman with brown hair." Teddy grabbed the armrest to hold onto and Callie increased their speed.

"Why strangle the blonde then? Why not stab her like the brunette? Unless he's stabbing her in the heart because she stole his or something," Callie mused out loud, feeling more relaxed as she wove through traffic. She loved this part of her job.

"Strangling takes time. He uses his hands, but he also uses a rope to keep the steady compression on their necks. He wants to look into their eyes as they die. He wants them to be forced to look at him while he squeezes the life out of them. That screams personal and bitter to me," Teddy suggested.

"True," Callie nodded, falling silent for a few minutes. "What about the positioning of the bodies? If the blonde was alive, would she be able to see the brunette?" she asked, a sickening idea forming in her head.

"Hang on," Teddy said as she took the photos out, trying to figure out the angle in her head. "Yeah, she was always in a position to see her. And we know that the brunette was killed first, at least an hour before. So he kills the woman who, in his head, took his wife and then he makes his wife pay." The bile rose high in her throat, but Teddy pushed it back down.

"Son of a bitch. He makes her watch," Callie said, her stomach churning. For the briefest of seconds, she imagined her and Arizona in that situation, Arizona screaming as a knife plunged into her…she nearly crashed the car. "This bastard needs to be caught. Now."

"Keep your mind on the fucking road, Torres, before you kill us both," Teddy barked when Callie nearly ran into a car coming the opposite way. She could tell on the plane that both Callie and Arizona were going to have a hard time with this case and it wasn't hard to understand why.

"I'm fine," Callie snapped back as she righted the car, letting out a shaky breath. It wasn't even the idea of being helpless and getting stabbed to death like that that shook her. It was the idea of Arizona having to watch, of her suffering like that. "You want to look at the interior while I take the outside of the house when we get there?" she asked, eager to change the subject.

"Idiots," Arizona muttered as she wove them through the streets. She hated civilian drivers, especially ones who cut her off. They were headed to the ME's office; she had some questions she hoped the old doctor could answer. She picked Alex to go with her for a reason. He knew little about her past with Callie and wouldn't ask about it. "What do you think, Alex?" she asked, stopping at a red light. "Why is this guy doing it?"

"Well, like we already said, it's personal. Callie's idea about the kids makes sense. I definitely think this guy got screwed over and is taking it out on these women. The question is, how do we find him? I mean, he's smart. So far, there's been no physical evidence," Alex said, glancing at his boss.

"No one is good enough to spend as long as this guy does in their house and not leave anything behind," Arizona pointed out, wanting to make sure Alex knew that. "He has to slip up at something. We just have to find it."

"Fair enough. But so far he's been smart enough that there was nothing on the bodies. No obvious fingerprints, hair, or blood. And he must surprise them because there are no defensive wounds or skin under their nails," Alex countered. "But all that means is that we should have the houses swept again. And maybe we should talk to the kids, see if they remember anyone hanging around watching them?"

"We will once we finish with the doctor." Arizona nodded. She hated when she had to talk to kids in situations like this. It was stressful for them at the best of times, and after their mothers were killed, it was going to be even harder. "I'm just hoping we can catch him before he kills again."

"Me too. But if we can't, then let's hope he gets sloppy," Alex said as he got out once Arizona parked. "What about the press? This is starting to be a big story. Do we want to do a press release after we talk to the police?"

"I'll do a press conference. It's easier to put out the tone that we want them to take that way." Arizona got out of the car, walking inside of the building with Alex. "This place always gives me the creeps," she whispered when they passed the sign for the morgue.

"No shit," Alex muttered, making the sign for the cross. He was not even close to religious, but it was the one thing from his childhood that still cropped up at times like these. He shivered as they moved through the double doors into the cold morgue.

"Hey, Callie. Does something look strange to you in here?" Teddy called from the bathroom just off of the master bedroom. Everything else in the house was perfectly in place, but there was one thing in here that wasn't. Or at least that was how it seemed to her; she was hoping Callie saw the same thing.

"What do you mean?" Callie asked, quickly moving from the kitchen, through the living room, which was the scene of the crime, and into the bathroom. Even going as slowly as she did, she was still done outside before Teddy was finished inside.

"Two adult women live here with a nine-year-old girl. What in this bathroom doesn't fit?" Teddy asked as she walked over to the toilet. "The seat is all the way up. What would three females be doing with the seat of their toilet up?"

"They could have had someone over for dinner. The girl could have had a friend over. Maybe they were cleaning it?" Callie said, moving closer. "Or…what? Our unsub used the toilet? How does that make sense?"

"He has to be here two or three hours. He rapes both women; that takes time, and then he takes his time killing the second one. It's possible that he had to pee." Teddy looked at the gleaming white toilet. "Can I get someone in here to print this, please?" she called to the tech they had there to help them.

"If he did, then maybe that's his mistake. If we can get a fingerprint off the seat, that at least places him here. We should have the bathrooms and maybe even the kitchens at the other houses checked, too. If he's here that long, chances are he touched something that no one thought to look at yet," Callie said, moving aside as the tech worked.

"Alex, finish here and meet me at the car. This is Teddy," Arizona said as she looked down at her phone and then over to the doctor and Alex. She excused herself before slipping into the hallway and taking the call. "Tell me you have something. Because we have a little bit less than zero." She tried to keep the discomfort out of her voice as she started heading for the exit. She hated this case and being in the morgue, but she hated having nothing to build a case on even more.

"The bastard messed up. He took a piss and left prints all over the place in the bathroom. I already have the crime lab sending people to the other houses to check the rooms around the crime scene. They're sending the prints to Yang so she can run them for us," Teddy said, happy to have something to go on.

"Yes." Arizona closed her eyes after stepping out into the sun. "Well, at least now we have prints to match when we find the guy." She really needed some good news right now. Being in the morgue was always hard on her, not to mention working this case in general. "Head over to the police station. Alex and I will be there soon and we can start trying to make a rough profile."

"Okay, we'll be there pretty quick. As long as Torres doesn't crash us on the way," Teddy muttered, glancing over the oddly quiet Latina. She may not have been the other woman's biggest fan, but she didn't envy her right now either.

"Be nice, Teddy. If she figured out what I figured out then…just be nice." Arizona wasn't sure what to say to get this over faster or more smoothly. This was a horrible case, though most of the cases were horrible. There wasn't really a good murder.

"I know. Don't worry, I'm being professional. Just hang in there. We'll get this guy. In the meantime, I'll scout out where the doughnut shop is on our way to the station. Talk to you soon," Teddy said before hanging up. She wished there was more she could do for her friend, but in the middle of a case there wasn't much she could do to help.

As her team presented the profile to the cops, Arizona watched the people there. A minister was standing with a few of the ex-husbands and one of the older children was there. It was unusual, but the chief of police okayed them to be there. She felt something slightly off about the men, but she wasn't able to place it. Then again she'd been feeling slightly off since they got this case so maybe it was just that.

"Do any of you have questions?" Arizona asked the room when her team finished, looking around to see if anyone was going to pipe up. Thankfully there weren't many questions, just a few officers asking for clarification on some points. By the time they were done it was getting to be dinnertime and there wasn't much they could do other than wait for lab results and for Yang to keep hunting. So that led the team to the town's only hotel with any vacancies at the moment. Alex had a room to himself, as did Teddy. As per agency policy in situations like this, Callie and Arizona would be rooming together since they were closest in rank.

"This day sucks," Arizona whispered to herself as they trekked down the hall. She just wanted to get into her bed, close her eyes, and try to get some sleep. She had a bad feeling that tomorrow wasn't going to be a good day, so she wanted to get rested for it. But when she opened the door, she groaned out loud. "It's a queen bed." She moved into the room to let Callie see.

"Of course it is," Callie groaned. Why would anything possibly go well today? First this shit case and now only one bed. "Well, you're the boss. You take the bed and I can make do with the couch," she offered, even though they both knew her back would be like rebar in the morning if she slept on the couch.

"Callie, there is no couch." Arizona looked around the room that barely had anything other than the bed, a small beat-up chest of drawers, and the door for the bathroom. "We're adults. It's fine. We can share a bed," she said, even though she knew that was not a good idea. She and Callie didn't always act like adults around each other and that went double when it came to sleeping in the same bed. She should have just gone and slept in Teddy's room, but she couldn't make her feet move.

"Oh…um…well, if you're sure?" Callie said, knowing she should have bitten the bullet and gone to room with Teddy, or hell, even Alex, but not actually having wanted to. In all honesty, she needed to be near Arizona right then more than she needed to be away from her.

"I'm sure. I'll just go into the bathroom and change." Arizona grabbed her bag, heading into the small bathroom. Shutting the door, she rested her forehead against it. "Why?" she muttered, trying to figure out why the universe would want her and Callie to sleep in the same bed together.

"Seriously, God? I know I've pissed you off a hell of a lot, but come on!" Callie groaned quietly to herself as she hurriedly changed into a pair of FBI sweats and an old NYPD t-shirt. Damn, not even a mini fridge to help take the edge off. She could _so_ use a drink right now.

"You still want to sleep closer to the door or is that protectiveness gone?" Arizona asked as she walked out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Thinking she would be sleeping in her own bed in her own room, she hadn't been that worried about covering up when she'd packed her PJ's. Now that she was sleeping with Callie, she wished she had something a little less revealing on.

"No, I'll take closer to the door," Callie said without hesitating. A lot of things might be gone or changed or different, but her instinctive protectiveness of Arizona wasn't one of them. Smiling slightly, she moved around to the side of the bed, setting her side arm on the nightstand before going over and locking and bolting the door.

"Here, hit the lights and I'll turn the lamp on," Arizona offered as Callie headed to the door. Setting her own side arm on the small night table on her side of the bed, she turned on the lamp resting there. Getting into the bed with Callie felt for a moment like they were back in their old apartment before things turned sour. Both of them moved to the center, prepared to wrap up in each other before remembering they no longer had the right to expect that. "Do you think he makes her watch because he knows that kills her before he even strangles her?" she asked softly after turning the lamp off and lying there in silence for a few minutes.

"I don't know if he thinks that deeply about it, but yes. He wants to make her suffer, to make her feel as much pain as he can, before he kills her," Callie said, suddenly wishing the lights weren't off yet. She'd never been much of a fan of the dark, and events in her life had only heightened that.

"I'm here, if you need me. I promise I won't let the monsters get you," Arizona whispered as she reached over, lacing her fingers with Callie's. She had forgotten those words that had been said years ago the first night they shared a bed. She knew that hard cases made Callie slightly scared of the dark and this was nothing if not a hard case.

"Arizona…" Callie whispered, closing her eyes tightly. That had been…god, she didn't even know what to call that night. It had been at least 4 AM before they'd gotten back to her apartment after working a brutal case where a father had killed his own children before killing six other kids. She'd been a wreck, and they'd only been dating a few months, but Arizona had simply bundled her into bed and whispered those words to her as she held her. "I'm here, too. Even if it's just to go pick up doughnuts," she said, knowing she couldn't do much to offer comfort.

"Thanks," Arizona whispered. She couldn't help but remember the first time Callie had been sent out to get her doughnuts. She had been working the hardest case of her life and her boss was breathing down her neck. She was running on no sleep, had her period and a cold, and all she wanted was to nail the bastard and sleep. When the case finally ended, Callie had picked her up with a box of her favorite chocolate-glazed. "Maybe, could I put my head on your shoulder?" she asked, voice cracking slightly, but only around the edges.

"If I can keep holding your hand," Callie whispered, her voice a bit ragged with stress and repressed emotions. That was always her thing. Even when things were bad between them, she'd always hold Arizona's hand if they were sharing a bed. It was something she needed to let herself know Arizona was still there.

"Always," Arizona murmured softly as she shifted close, her head finding the best pillow it ever had in Callie's shoulder. She tried not to snuggle up too much, but couldn't help doing it a little bit. It was an odd mix of feelings, like being home again and like it was the first time she had done it. She and Callie weren't who they used to be. "Good night, Calliope." She closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

"Good night, Mariposa," Callie said softly, kissing the crown of Arizona's head before closing her eyes and praying sleep took her before she could do anything else stupid. As it was, she was already meeting Arizona halfway with the snuggling and entwining their bodies even more, holding her protectively like she used to.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - Co-Written with Walking_Weapon on LJ. :)

Thank you Anna and Alida for your hard work.

Enjoy!

P.S. Sorry for the chapter mix up early!

* * *

It had been four days with no more killings and no more leads. The fingerprints weren't in any database and they hadn't been able to get court orders for a few of the people they wanted to test. Right now, it was starting to look like it might be a cold case if nothing happened to change things. And that…well, that was just not okay with Arizona. She knew the rest of her team wouldn't be happy about not getting this guy either, but for her it was personal. She knew all the psychological mumbo-jumbo about not making cases personal and staying objective, but every so often a case like this one came along and all of that went out the window.

"What happens if we don't get this guy?" Arizona asked, getting into the bed she and Callie now shared without a thought. Old habits came back quickly, it seemed.

"We'll get him. Sooner or later, we'll get a break or he'll make a mistake. We'll get him," Callie promised, slipping an arm around Arizona's shoulders without thinking about it. The familiarity still held an edge of pain, but she was getting better at ignoring it and pushing it down. She just tried not to think about what would happen when this case was over and she was back home in her empty, cold bed in her empty, cold apartment.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" Arizona asked softly, sinking into Callie's side instinctively. She and Callie had done their FBI training together, and of course they couldn't stop the sexual tension they were feeling and ended up having a six-week long fling while they trained. "It was on a gun range, right?"

"I tripped and launched my gun halfway down the walkway. You were kind enough to pick it up for me. I couldn't even tell you what I said to you. I was so distracted by how hot you looked," Callie said, running her hand soothingly through Arizona's hair.

"I asked if you were trying to kill me or if you were trying to give me a look down your shirt." Arizona smiled at the memory and relaxed a bit more at Callie's soothing touch. She knew she was playing with fire by starting this walk down memory lane, but she couldn't help it. The thought of what it would be like to kiss Callie again was getting more and more play time in her mind. She and Callie had had an amazing fling and then a really great long-term relationship. But when that ended, it ended in war.

"Oh yeah," Callie chuckled softly. "I said I'd never try to kill a pretty girl like you unless you tried to off me first, and if you wanted a look down my shirt all you had to do was ask. So you did." She smirked at the memory. They'd been in bed together not even three nights later.

"And then there was Boston." Arizona sighed softly as she thought of their time there. They should still have been there, building a family and working hard at their jobs. But then something happened, something not even Arizona could describe. "I miss our old house sometimes, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Callie whispered, thinking of the last time she was there. She could never sell it, not with everything it meant and symbolized. So instead she had her banker buy it so that Arizona would be paid out, and then she bought it back. "I went back, after Daddy died. I don't know why. I just…I needed to get out of Miami."

"What happened when I was in Texas, Callie?" Arizona whispered, turning her head to look up at her. One day they were happy, really happy. Sure, they had fights and they didn't always agree and of course they worked too much, but they were happy. And then Arizona had to go to Texas for a three-week long case. When she got back, everything was different.

"Nothing," Callie said immediately, starting to shut down and put her walls back up. "Nothing happened. We just…we fell apart," she said, letting go of Arizona and slipping out of bed. She couldn't lie there holding the woman she still loved and lie to her. She just couldn't. That was part of why she pushed her away all those years ago.

"No, damn it." Arizona sat up. They didn't talk about it back then. Things had fallen apart too quickly for Arizona to stop it and talk it out with Callie. "You were good. We were good. We were talking about babies and rings and we were in love. And then I was away for three weeks and when I came back, you wouldn't let me touch you or hold you and you couldn't even look at me. Why?"

"Why does there have to be a reason? We just fell apart. It was my fault, if that makes you feel better, but that's all that happened," Callie said, gathering up her shoes and socks, intent on getting out of there. She couldn't let Arizona press this right now. She was too vulnerable from this case and she just might crack. She'd never been happier to hear her phone ring. "Torres," She barked when she opened it.

"It was the minister," Cristina's voice came over the line. "I just got the fingerprints back. It's not a perfect match, but it's damn close and he had a wife divorce him for another woman. She was blonde and the other chick had brown hair."

"Shit. Do we have anything else? That's enough to bring him in for questioning, but that's about it. We need to nail this bastard," Callie said, finishing tying her shoes before grabbing her jacket.

"Damn it." Arizona whispered as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Of course a break in the case would come now. She watched as Callie rushed about the room, still on the phone, and got out of bed when Callie gestured for her to, getting dressed quickly. "Why did Cristina call me and not you?" She asked. It was a small matter, but she was the senior most agent. "Anyway, what did she find, and who are we bring in for questioning?"

"No idea," Callie shrugged, trying to focus on Yang's call and not Arizona changing. "It's the priest, just like you thought. His wife left him for another woman and his fingerprint is a close match. Plus the trace amounts of drugs in the urine sample from two of the crime scenes match drugs he's taking. The problem is none of that is solid, at least not solid enough. We need a confession."

"Come on," Arizona said as she put her side arm in her holster, tying her hair back. "Let's go nail this son of a bitch to the wall with a rusty nail." She wanted this guy to burn in hell for what he had done. This was personal.

"Right after I tattoo a rainbow flag on his forehead." Callie smirked, loving this side of Arizona as much as always. She would never want to be on the other side of the table; being on the other side of a fight with the blonde was bad enough. "Yang is calling Teddy and Alex, and local PD is already bringing him in."

Standing outside of the interrogation room, Arizona watched for a moment. She wanted to make him wait, make him feel uncomfortable and off his game before she went in. She was the most seasoned at interrogations, US Marine trained in it. She wanted this man, this balding, middle-aged, pot bellied man, to admit what he had done and what he was. Finally, she looked at the other three field agents briefly and walked into the interrogation room.

"Reverend Paulson, My name is SSA Arizona Robbins. Have you been read your rights?" Arizona asked, barely managing to keep her voice calm and professional.

"I have, but I don't see the point in all of this. I'm a man of God. I believe those women were vile sinners who needed to repent, but I didn't kill them," James said, holding his hands up and shrugging his shoulders a bit. He needed just to play this cool and he'd come out just fine. God was on his side.

"Good, then you won't mind us chatting for a bit," Arizona said with fake cheer as she sat down, opening a file and reading something on the first sheet of paper. "Reverend, can you tell me who Jason Paulson is?" She wanted to ask about his son first, take him to a place he wouldn't want to go.

"My son. Why? What does he have to with this?" James demanded, sitting up a little straighter. "He doesn't even live in town. You can't think he had something to do with these murders."

"And Leslie Townsend is?" Arizona moved to his ex-wife, wanting to explore a little more of his anger. She could read right though all the bullshit he was projecting and see what was inside. Only a monster could do to women what he did.

"A lost soul. I pray she will one day find God again and return to His flock, but I fear she is gone too far astray to be saved," James said, his jaw tightening and a vein in his neck starting to pulse a bit. His wife was a whore and a sinner, one who should be punished.

"Faith Townsend is your ex-wife's wife, isn't she?" Arizona tilted her head. The vein in his neck was nearly bulging at the name that just rolled off her lips. "The woman your wife left you for, isn't that right?"

"She is a sinner, even more lost than my former wife. She is beyond help, though I pray she will be stopped from leading others astray," James replied, forcing himself to breathe. He was close. He just needed to bide his time.

"Hmm…" Arizona hummed, her feet clenched tightly in her shoes to keep from making fists with her hands. She pulled out photos of the women he had murdered and slapped them down one by one on the table for him to see. "Can you answer a question for me, James?" She pointed to the placement of the bodies. "Why do you think the killer would force one wife to look at her murdered wife while she was being choked to death?"

"I have no idea," James said, pushing the photos away and looking disgusted. Inside though, he felt a thrill at seeing his handiwork once more. "To make them suffer? Because he wants to? I have no idea. Isn't it your job to sort that out?"

"All right," Arizona said as she brought out another set of photos. They were family photos of the women with their kids, lovely women who were just trying to do the best they could. "Tell me, Reverend, what do you see when you look at these photos?" She knew he was close to cracking. The faint smirk at the dead bodies gave him away.

"I see sinners and their children," James said carefully. Religious bigotry he could get away with, but it was a fine line. "I pray they were able to repent before they passed."

"Before they passed? You mean before someone broke into their homes, raped them, put a knife in one of their chests and choked the life out of the other while she looked at her wife's dead or dying body?" Arizona corrected him calmly, though inside she was simmering. "Tell me what these women did that made them deserve that. Tell me, Reverend, what is their great sin?"

"I don't have to explain my beliefs to you. If this is all you have to ask me, then I think we're done and I would like to leave. I have to prepare for evening Mass," James said, getting to his feet. "As for their sins, isn't it obvious in all those pictures? They lie with a woman as they should with a man. It is an abomination."

"So I am an abomination then, am I?" Arizona knew that if the "man of God" before her knew she was a lesbian he was not going to take kindly to that. She was pretty sure she could get him to slip up by bringing it up, and if not, no harm done. "Does the fact that after I leave here I'm going to go fuck my married, bisexual girlfriend against the wall bother you? Is that an abomination, too?"

"You are one of those degenerates?" James snarled, his lip turning up in a sneer. "People like you shouldn't be allowed to tarnish the mantle of law enforcement and the brave men who serve. Yes, you are an abomination," he spat, his glare intensifying and his control slipping.

"I'm blonde just like the women you choked. My girlfriend has brown hair. Tell me, Reverend, what would you like to do to us?" Arizona smirked right back at him as she stood up and leaned in towards him. She was hoping she could push it a little more and he wouldn't just leave. She needed this to be finished. This case had been pure hell.

"Nothing. I wouldn't do anything," James insisted, though he was shaking with the effort of holding back. "But if someone were to stab your perverted lover and force you to watch, then strangle the life from your devilish body, I would not shed any tears," he said heatedly. There, no confession of anything, but still a spiteful remark.

"Why rape sinners, Reverend? Why would you want to rape women who have strayed so far from the path? Is it because your wife left you and you can't get it up any other way?" Arizona said right as he tried to walk away. It was the last bullet left in her gun. If this didn't work, they were screwed.

"She didn't leave me! She was led astray but the devil worshipper she ran away with!" James yelled, snapping and lunging at Arizona and tackling her to the ground. "I'll show you, bitch. I'll make you beg and cry just like those other whores. I'll show you what God intended for your purpose to be," he snarled, hands fighting to grip Arizona's throat as she struggled.

"Admit you killed them," Arizona gasped as his hand closed tighter around her throat. She wasn't thinking of her own safety right then or of getting away from him. She wanted, needed the confession more than she wanted to make it out of this room. "Admit it if you're so proud of doing God's work."

"You're right. It is God's work. Ridding the world of whores and sinners like that could only be God's work," James grunted. Glee filled his eyes as he felt her struggle weaken. "You'll beg, just like they begged. A pity I won't get to hear you cry while I teach your slut what a man really is. Or hear you scream when I stab her in her rotten heart. They all begged and cried and screamed. Every last one," he gloated, glorying in the memories of what he did.

"Oof," Arizona grunted as she was suddenly freed, slumping down when her team finally was able to pull the bastard off of her. She was pretty sure his handprint was visible on her neck and would be for a while. She coughed as she watched them drag him out, cuffing him as they went. "I got the confession," she told Callie in a rough voice when she saw that she had stayed behind.

"You fucking idiot," Callie snapped, her voice and harsh words at odds with the fear in her eyes and the tenderness of her touch as she knelt down and gingerly touched Arizona's neck. "What the hell were you thinking? He could have really hurt you before we got in here. Some moron deputy locked you in here with him. Teddy had to kick the door in," she sighed, looking worriedly at Arizona's red and bruising neck.

"I'm fine." Arizona argued even as she let Callie fuss over her. Right now, being fussed over felt pretty damn nice. "I wanted to be able to get a confession. I knew that was the only way." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "He wasn't going to go down for this any other way, Calliope."

"He would have. We would have found a way," Callie said, her voice tight as her adrenaline faded and the reality of what almost happened set in. "The way he looked at you, his voice…he would have hurt you so much if we hadn't gotten in here when we did," she said, finally satisfied that Arizona didn't have any serious injuries and sitting back on her haunches.

"I would have stopped him. I wasn't fighting back until he confessed. I wanted it to be on the recording." Arizona slowly got to her feet, a little bit shaky. "We need to go back to the hotel and pack our things. The locals can handle this now." She cleared her throat again.

"Are you sure you're okay? Maybe we should go to the hospital and get you looked at," Callie said worriedly, hurriedly jumping up and moving an arm around Arizona's waist to steady her. "Easy, I've got you. Teddy and Alex are making sure he gets booked. There's no rush."

"No, no hospitals." Arizona said as she leaned against Callie, slowly making her way out of the room and toward the black SUV that was outside. "Thank you for helping me. And I'm sorry I started a fight before." She wanted to make things right, not to have anything new hanging between them on the trip home. This whole thing put her back on edge and she just needed them to be okay again, or as okay as they ever got these days.

"It's fine. I'm a big girl. I can handle it. And it's not like it's our first fight." Callie shrugged, brushing it off. She didn't want to think about why they were fighting, not now, not after this. Making sure Arizona was buckled in safely, she got in the driver's seat and started heading for the hotel.

Finally getting into her seat on the far end of the plane, Arizona tried her best not to look like she was sitting away from the others for any reason. But in truth, she wanted a little bit of time to herself. It had been a long few days, a few days when old scars were reopened, filled with salt, and then poked at.

Callie wanted to go sit with Arizona, but after being stonewalled and shut out since leaving the police station she knew she wasn't welcome. Not that she really expected anything different, she knew how Arizona operated in situations like this, and stuck on a flight with the team was the last place to push anything. So instead, she snagged an empty seat at the other end of the plane, but kept an eye on Arizona who was still in her line of sight.

"This seat taken?" Teddy asked even as she sat down across from Arizona, effectively blocking Callie's view and making Arizona focus on her. "Thought I should check in. That was pretty intense back there."

"Yeah, guess so," Arizona muttered, lifting a hand to her neck and feeling the bruised skin. She was lucky he didn't do more damage than he had, though she knew that if it came to it she could have taken him down. "It wasn't the average day at the office, but I got the confession and he gets to rot in jail. It's a win/win, don't you think?"

"If you're looking at it like that, I guess so." Teddy nodded, crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair. "But are you okay? The whole case was intense. It had to hit close to home for you, for lots of reasons."

"It did. But I don't want to talk about it, Teddy," Arizona said firmly, not liking how direct Teddy was being. She couldn't break down on the plane. First of all, it would look bad, and secondly, the person she would be breaking down over was ten feet away.

"Okay," Teddy sighed, knowing Arizona well enough to know she was close to the edge. "But you should, if not to me, then to someone. We both know who the victims looked like. We both know who you roomed with. We both know what you said in the interrogation room."

"I said what I did in the interrogation room because I needed to get him to mess up. I am not dating her, Teddy. I don't love her like that anymore. And even if I did, I think she made it pretty clear that she doesn't want me anymore." Arizona's tone was sharper than she meant for it to be, but she didn't care. "She left me after I asked her to marry me. After we got a house together."

"I know she did. I know how you think you feel. But I also see how you look at her, how she looks at you when she thinks no one's paying attention," Teddy said, not flinching at Arizona's tone. She was pretty used to it when it came to this topic. "I think dating her or getting back with her to fuck is an epically stupid idea. I don't want you bottling everything up and getting blindsided and making a stupid move."

"She was the one, Teddy. How do I just stop wanting her to still be the one?" Arizona asked very softly, looking down at her hands and trying her best to figure out what to say to Teddy. She was right, right about the looks and the fact that if she kept it all inside she was going to do something stupid at the wrong time.

"I don't know, but you need to find a way," Teddy sighed, wishing she had some better advice. "Try dating? Get a hobby to fill up some of your down time? Bury yourself in paperwork?" She sighed again, shrugging a bit.

"You don't forget her like that," Arizona said simply before turning in her seat to look out the window and away from Teddy. She wanted to forget all about this case and what she and Callie had done in the hotel room. The last thing she needed Teddy to know was that she and Callie had gotten close to kissing during the long nights.

"Arizona…don't do this. Don't shut me out again. I'm here for you and I'm only trying to help," Teddy said, resting her hand on Arizona's arm. "Whatever you need, I'm here no matter what," she promised, knowing that there was nothing that would make her abandon her oldest and closest friend.

"I almost kissed her last night. We had been sharing a bed; there was only one in the room. And we were talking about the good times. And for a moment, I thought about kissing her," Arizona said as she turned back toward Teddy, knowing it wasn't smart to shut her out right now even if it was easier.

"Well, if you were talking about the good times, I guess that's only natural. I mean, if I ignore what I think about her now, I can at least acknowledge that she used to make you happy," Teddy conceded, knowing diplomacy was the best avenue. Callie had always been and would always be a touchy subject. "But you still can't talk about the bad times, can you?" she pointed out.

"No, we can't. Not without getting into a fight." Arizona looked down at her hands, finding that the left shook just a little. "We were fighting when Cristina called. I asked her what happened when I was in Texas. It was like a switch went off and she closed down." She still couldn't figure out what had happened that changed everything. What could have been so bad that everything in their relationship went to hell?

"I know you flipped out back then when I suggested this, but…have you considered that maybe she cheated? Even if it was just a one-night stand, it would explain her pulling away," Teddy said, naming the one thing she had come up with that fit.

"Calliope didn't cheat on me." Arizona said, feeling both her hands ball into fists and her jaw clench. She would never be able to accept that the thing that brought their relationship to an end was another person. "Calliope might be many things, but she isn't a cheater."

"Okay, okay…" Teddy said, holding her hands up defensively. "Then, as I see it, you have a set of choices, none of which you're going to like. You pop the damn bubble and have it out with her again, likely ruining your working relationship. You let it go and find a way to move on, really, truly move on. Or, and you don't get to shoot me, you get a PI and try to find out what happened," she said, knowing Arizona was not going to go with any of those plans.

"Teddy…" Arizona breathed out slowly, flexing her hands and trying to keep from wrapping them around her best friend's throat. "Teddy, you are my best friend and I love you. But if you don't leave me alone right now, I might toss you off of this plane." The rage she was feeling had taken years to build up like this. She was still so angry. The life she built had turned to hell in front of her eyes.

"Just think about it. And hit the range or the gym when we land so you actually sleep tonight," Teddy said as she wisely got up and moved away from her troubled friend. As she stood, her eyes landed on Callie and it took everything in her not to do more than glare at her.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - No notes this chapter. Just enjoy!

* * *

"Um…you wanted to see me?" Callie asked, trying not to seem nervous as she knocked on the half-open door of Arizona's office. It had been three months since the BAU team was formed and it had been…interesting. She and Arizona were getting along better than she'd expected by a huge margin, even if they still had their strained moments. She and Teddy, on the other hand, were getting along worse than she thought they would, but at least they kept it professional. And Alex was proving to be a quick study and was quickly shaping up to be a great profiler with a lot of potential.

"Do you have plans tonight?" Arizona asked as she looked up, noting that Callie had small bags under her eyes that makeup didn't cover. "I was hoping you could help me with the evaluations for the team and the case evaluations. I could do them, but I would really like your help with them."

"Oh, um…okay, sure." Callie said, plastering on her best smile and trying to ignore the tug at her heart. For a brief second, when Arizona asked if she had plans, she thought…well, she wasn't sure what she'd thought, but it didn't matter anyway. "Sure, I can help. I don't have any plans besides take-out and a bottle of wine."

"Why don't you call out for dinner while I get all the files out and on the table?" Arizona offered, wanting to make sure Callie ate and figuring that was the easiest way to do it. Luckily for them, she had enough space in her office that they could do it there. It would be far nicer than having to be in a conference room, and more private, too.

'You got it. What did you feel like?" Callie forced herself to ask instead of assuming she knew. Things change. Arizona might have different favorites or she might not want pizza like usual. It was not her job to assume or know anyway.

"Pizza? Half supreme and half roasted red pepper?" Arizona suggested, naming the pizza that she and Callie had split more than they had shared any other meal. She thought suggesting that pizza might be the peace treaty that they needed to get through the boring casework smoothly.

"I'll get some breadsticks and garlic cheese sauce, too." Callie nodded with a small smile. There was that tug at her heart again. She really ought to get it looked at it. It couldn't be healthy. "I'll go order and finish up at my desk. Should be back in about 45 minutes."

"Sounds perfect." Arizona nodded before getting up from her desk and moving the files to the table on the far side. She really hated that she and Callie could still share things like their pizza, but couldn't talk about why they weren't an "us" anymore. It made her so mad that she still didn't know what broke them up. At least if she knew, heard it from Callie's own lips instead of just lying awake nights thinking and wondering, at least then she might maybe be able to move on. Maybe.

Callie quickly placed the order, adding a six-pack of Coke to it, before heading to her desk. It took all of five minutes to clean up her half-finished reports, but she spent the rest of the time trying to give herself a pep talk. Spending the night with Arizona while not working a case…she could handle that. She could totally handle that. Right?

"So if you want to handle the case evaluations, I will handle the personal," Arizona said, her back to the door when Callie walked in. Even after all this time she still knew Callie's walk. She had taken her jacket off and rolled her sleeves up some, wanting to be comfortable for the long night ahead. "I think I can be a tad more diplomatic than you can in some ways on these."

"When you want to be." Callie smirked, letting herself take a second and drink in the sight in front of her. Arizona might be older, but her back was still as muscular and lean as ever. "Just save mine until I'm gone and we should live," she joked with a slight smile as she set the food down.

"You are doing well here, Callio...Callie." Arizona knew Callie hated her full name being used. "Sorry, I guess it's a habit that I'm not used to having to control when we're talking. I know you hate when people call you by your full name," she said, shaking her head. She had to try to get out of the head space she was in.

"It's…uh…it's fine. I mean, it's still you. It's always sounded better when you said it." Callie shrugged, clearing her throat and focusing on grabbing a couple plates from where she knew Arizona kept a stock of disposable dishes and cutlery. Some things never changed.

"I always loved your full name. It sounds like something musical," Arizona whispered, finishing sorting the files out for each of them. "I always hoped you would let us name our daughter that, but I knew it was a fat chance."

"Got that right," Callie snorted, shaking her head. "Our kids needed nice, normal names. It's about the only thing they'd have going for them with two crazy-ass moms like us," she said as she accepted the stack of files.

"We would have made great moms. Well, you would have. I would have been scared and overprotective and crazy," Arizona said as she sat down, opening the pizza box and grabbing a piece of each of the kinds of pizza.

"No, you wouldn't have. You would have been protective, but you also would have been a really fun mom. You would have played sports and taken the kids hiking and all that stuff. And you would have been at every game no matter what. You would have been an amazing mom," Callie said softly, feeling a little déjà-vu at this conversation.

"Will you promise me something?" Arizona picked a piece of pepper off of her pizza and took a bite. "I really need to know one day why we broke up, why you said no to me. You don't have to tell me now. Just one day, please, tell me why, okay?" she pleaded, wishing she didn't sound as desperate as she did, but it was eating her alive not knowing.

"I…" Callie started, walls instinctively snapping up as she automatically prepped to get defensive. And the best defense was a good offense. But when she looked over and saw Arizona, really saw her and how vulnerable she looked, she couldn't tell her no. "Okay. Not now. I don't know when, but…one day," she promised, not knowing how she'd ever keep it.

"Thank you," Arizona whispered, reaching across the table to take Callie's hand in hers, holding it briefly before letting it go. "Let's get this work done. We could both use the sleep if we get it finished early," she said in a rush, not really wanting to get into this anymore. Just scratching the surface this much made her chest ache.

"Yeah…right…work…" Callie muttered, clearing her throat and grabbing a folder. "So you just want some quick notes on each case? What could have gone better, what went wrong, that sort of thing?" she asked as she cracked open a Coke.

"Ugh," Arizona muttered as she glanced at her watch after hours of working on reviews and reports. Standing, she moved from the chair to the small couch, her back protesting any more time in the chair by this point. "Callie, come and sit on the couch. If you sit in that chair any longer, you won't be able to stand up straight tomorrow."

"It's okay. I'm fine." Callie waved her off even if she knew Arizona was right. One too many bad falls in her line of work had her back pretty banged up. Still, she didn't think sitting that close to Arizona was a good plan.

"Calliope, I will tell Alex your middle name if you don't get out of that chair. Your back is too beat up for you to sit there anymore," Arizona said bluntly, knowing her threat would work. She couldn't stop her protectiveness from showing.

"Damn it," Callie growled, glaring at Arizona as she pushed herself to her feet, her knees feeling stiff and her back cracking and popping audibly. "I knew letting you have my latest physical assessment was a stupid plan," she muttered, knowing that if she wanted on the team she didn't have a choice but to hand it over. Thank God they didn't insist on her full medical record.

"I've known about your back since you joined the FBI. If you remember, I was the first one who helped crack it for you in basic," Arizona snorted, making room for Callie to sit down next to her. "We were in our room and you were on the floor in pain, nearly crying."

"Yeah, yeah, how about we don't dredge up that particular incident?" Callie muttered, blushing a bit at the memory. "I have a very good chiropractor whom I pretty much keep in business by myself now," she said, wanting Arizona to know she was looking after herself at least a little bit.

"I could rub your back for you if you need it. I still remember where all your weak spots are," Arizona said, cringing at the offer once it was out of her mouth. She knew how stupid it was to offer it but she couldn't help herself.

"I…um…would you?" Callie asked against her better judgment. It was stupid and dangerous and a million other things but she couldn't bring herself to say no. "I mean, if you don't mind. If you get it to calm down a bit, I'll at least get some sleep tonight until I can see Greg, my chiropractor, tomorrow."

"No, I don't mind. Lie down." Arizona nodded as she stood up, cracking her knuckles and trying to not let her palms sweat. She didn't want to hurt Callie and she really didn't want to touch her and have feelings happen again, but here she was, about to do all of the above.

"Sure," Callie said softly, swallowing hard as she shifted and lay down on the couch on her belly. She'd taken her jacket off ages ago, so now she was just in her dress shirt and slacks, minus her shoes.

"Where does it hurt, lower left or upper right?" Arizona asked, buying herself a few more seconds. She really didn't want to do this, but she could help Callie lessen some of her pain, so of course she was going to do it. She really wanted to be able to be strong and detached, but that was not going to happen, not even a little bit.

"Everywhere," Callie snorted, not really surprised that Arizona still remembered those two spots that always used to cause her so much trouble. "Remember how it felt after the case in Baltimore? Well, I sort of slipped on my front steps the other day, so it feels a bit like that," she said sheepishly.

"I really wish you would take better care of yourself," Arizona muttered as she moved to her knees by the couch, her hands tentatively stroking on top of Callie's shirt. She worked carefully, trying to keep her hands in safe places even as they tried to get her in trouble.

"I take care of myself. It's not like I tried to slip, and this job is tough. And besides, you're one to talk," Callie protested, trying not to groan at how good Arizona's hands felt on her. "How many mornings this week alone have I gotten here only to find you never left?"

"I always get at least four hours of sleep a night," Arizona said, knowing the protest was a weak one, but trying her best to stand tall. She didn't want to get a talking-to from Callie over it. She was an adult. "Besides, I have a lot on my shoulders right now. We're getting a lot of pressure to perform perfectly each time."

"Then share it. I'm your number two. You can delegate more than reports to me. Or if you don't trust me with it, get some help from Teddy. You know she'll help out," Callie said, grunting as Arizona hit a really tender spot. She knew this wasn't her place anymore, but she just couldn't help but worry.

"I'm just scared of not having everything done myself right now," Arizona admitted, bending down and kissing the tender spot without thinking of what she was doing. "I don't want this unit to be taken away from me. What happens if they don't think I'm good enough?"

"Never going to happen. You're amazing at your job and everyone knows it. Hell, if you want it, you could probably make director when the time comes," Callie said confidently, a hint of pride in her voice. Her heart was racing a bit just from Arizona touching her and that barely there kiss, to her back no less, didn't help matters. "At least let me bring you lunch sometimes? I still suck at cooking for just myself, so I always have leftovers."

"I don't know," Arizona sighed as she pushed herself up and sat on the coffee table in front of the couch, holding her hands together so she wouldn't reach out for Callie. "Maybe you could make some of that Spanish pork and a little of that dirty rice?" She relented, not really wanting to turn down Callie's cooking. Callie could cook nearly anything she wanted and when they were together Arizona took her up on it.

"Sure, I was planning on making that soon anyway," Callie lied, slowly pushing herself up into a sitting position and straightening her shirt. "Thanks. That feels a lot better." She smiled softly as she tested her back's range of motion.

"Glad to help." Arizona nodded with a small smile of her own, trying hard not to peak at the strip of skin revealed by Callie's twisting. She moved back to the couch once her seat was open again. The only thing she had to do now was to keep her hands to herself. "I think I'm just going to rest my eyes for a little while. They're stinging a little bit," she muttered as she rubbed her hand down her face.

"Get some rest. Don't worry about it. I can finish this up and I'll make sure to close your door when I'm done," Callie promised, casting a wistful look at Arizona. Most of the time she could forget about what she'd lost, what she'd given up, but every once in a while, it snuck up on her. Kind of like right now.

_Three years earlier_

_"Calliope, I know this is goofy, but we own this house now and I want to sleep here tonight," Arizona laughed, her hair pulled about in a ponytail. "I got our bed in the living room and a few tricks up my sleeves for tonight." She drove them through Boston to their new home, a 200-year-old Victorian house._

_"Arizona, we just spent the last two days packing and moving. I really don't want to tackle unpacking right now. Let's just sleep in a hotel tonight," Callie groaned, not looking forward to the mountain of boxes they had to tackle. Who knew they could have so much stuff in each of their cramped apartments?_

_"Just trust me, Calliope." Arizona said as she took her lover's hand. "I have everything under control. Just trust me, baby." She kissed the back of Callie's hand before pulling into their driveway. There was a path of candles that led to their door, each of them colored to give off pretty colors._

_"Arizona…how did…when did…" Callie stammered quietly, looking at the beautiful scene in awe. "What is all this? How did you have time to do this?" she questioned as she returned Arizona's smile and followed her out of the car._

_"Let's just say I have my ways." Arizona couldn't keep her eyes off of Callie's face. She saw all the love that was there and the surprise and it was as perfect as she could have hoped for. "I really wanted to give us a great first night in our home. This is going to be the place we spend all our nights for the next 70 or so years."_

_"Any night with you would be a great night," Callie said sweetly, turning to Arizona and leaning in to give her a slow and tender kiss. "This is amazing. Thank you," she said, cupping her lover's cheek. She didn't know what she did to deserve something like this, to deserve a woman like Arizona, but she thanked God every day._

_"You are very welcome." Arizona grinned as she returned the kiss before leading her girlfriend inside. They were greeted by a fire in the fireplace, a pizza on their already made bed, and a bottle of wine both loved. "I think you can figure out what I plan on doing tonight."_

_"Cuddling and painting each other's nails while we talk about boys?" Callie teased, her eyes sparkling. She had never felt as happy as she did right then. Finding Arizona a second time was the best thing to happen to her. Who knew taking a post in Boston would turn out to be the best move of her life?_

_"Don't forget practicing kissing on each other and experimenting once we've had one too many drinks." Arizona's laugh filled the room. Turning, she locked their door, wanting to keep the whole world out. "All the boxes are elsewhere. Tonight, this is about just us."_

_"It's perfect," Callie said softly, looking at Arizona as the firelight reflected off her skin. She looked stunning, possibly the most beautiful she had ever looked. "You're totally earning major brownie points tonight, babe." She grinned as she kicked off her shoes._

_"Like I need them,." Arizona scoffed playfully, taking her jacket off after slipping off her boots, wanting to be comfortable. "I still am a little bit in awe of the fact that you and I have a home together." She moved to her side of the bed, away from the door._

_"Me, too. It seems like just yesterday I was showing up for my first day here in Boston and literally bumping into you outside the bathrooms," Callie said with a smile as she slipped into bed so she was between Arizona and the door. It didn't matter that Arizona could fend for herself and had for years. She still had to protect her._

_"I love that you wanna protect me." Arizona leaned across the pizza, kissing her girl. "Even if I don't always show it. I'm glad you and I are together and happy and moving forward. I was scared for a long time. But I'm not scared anymore."_

_"I'm not scared anymore, either. And I've never been happier than I am right now. We got our second chance. I'm not going to fuck it up," Callie said determinedly, leaning in for another gentle kiss. "Speaking of being happy and moving forward, my dad wants to come visit," she said a little shyly._

_"Yeah? I finally get to meet Daddy Torres, do I? Does he look like Mr. Warbucks?" Arizona always teased that her father sounded like the man from one of her favorite movies. "Will he have a shaved head?"_

_"Arizona, I'm being serious," Callie groaned, nudging Arizona's shoulder and shaking her head. "He knows I'm buying a house, so he figures this is pretty serious, and he's right, and he's going to be in town on business at the end of the month, so…I really want you to meet him, if you're ready. I know we haven't talked about meeting the family and all that yet, but I know he'll love you and I want him to meet the woman who makes me so happy," she rambled a bit, like she always did when she was nervous._

_"You're cute when you're nervous," Arizona giggled, kissing Callie to shut her up, knowing it was the quickest way to do it and the method both of them enjoyed the most. "I would love to meet your father and to have him meet me. We could go to dinner, have a glass of wine together, and talk. Man to Marine."_

_"Man to Marine, huh?" Callie smirked a bit, still feeling a little shy and antsy, but calming under Arizona's soothing gaze. "Make it tequila and cigars instead of wine and you'll be set. If we're settled enough, I thought I'd offer for him to spend a night in the guest room. That way we can have more time together."_

_"I think that would be nice. Maybe we could have dinner here, then. I would offer to cook, but that would be cruel. You could cook, though, maybe something you know he likes to put him in a good mood," Arizona suggested._

_"I know just the thing, and you two have similar taste in food, so you'll both be happy." Callie smiled as she ran through her list of Spanish dishes in her head. "This feels good," she sighed softly as she took a minute to appreciate how awesome it felt to be talking about her father meeting her girlfriend and not be terrified by it. Well, not totally terrified anyway._

_"I love you." Arizona leaned in, wanting to give Callie another kiss and a million more after that. "I love that you and I have the same address now, that we share the same bed and bedroom and shower, that when we come home at night we get to see our stuff together. I love that I get to put my gun next to yours in our gun locker."_

_"That's the dorkiest and most perfect thing anyone's ever said." Callie grinned, leaning if for another long kiss. "I love you, and I love all those things, too. And I love that we have a hot tub now. Surprise." She winked, glad that all her work paid off and she managed to get that installed and set up on the sly._

_"We do?" Arizona raised an eyebrow before a devilish smile crossed her face. "Why don't you and I go try it out?" she offered as her fingers moved to the bottom of her shirt. She wouldn't mind getting wet and naked with Callie right now. Or pretty much anytime, really._

_"But I don't have a swimsuit unpacked or towels or anything else," Callie protested weakly, barely able to keep a straight face. She totally knew this was a perfect idea._

_"Right," Arizona deadpanned as she pulled off her shirt, showing off the barely-there bra she was wearing, before taking that off and tossing it to Callie. "Was there a point in there, Calliope?"_

_"Skinny dipping. That was the point," Callie stammered in a rush, hurriedly yanking her own shirt and bra off. "Back porch," she said, scrambling off the bed and taking Arizona's hand. She dragged her halfway there before letting go of her hand and dashing back to the bed to grab the quilt. They'd need something to dry off with, after all._

"Hey, Boss, I…" Alex started as he walked into Arizona's office. The door was open a crack, so he just pushed his way in. He stopped dead at what he saw, though. Arizona and Callie were curled up on the couch in a very intimate way, papers and remnants of their pizza dinner scattered about. "Oh, shit," he blurted out, louder than he intended.

"Karev, get out and keep your damn mouth shut about it," Arizona barked as she bolted up, shifting away from Callie as soon as she saw the look on Alex's face and put together what he might have thought. "Get out and shut the door. That is an order," she barked again, sounding much more like a marine than an FBI agent at the moment.

"I…uh…but…" Alex stuttered dumbly, eyes wide as saucers as he just stared at Arizona. He had never had her bark at him quite like that before and he was still trying to figure out just what he had walked in on.

"Ah! I'm up, I'm up," Callie grunted, jerking upright as the warm body she was leaning against suddenly vanished. Wait…Warm body…? Oh, no…

"We must have fallen asleep doing our paperwork," Arizona said as she ran a hand through her tangled hair, wincing a little as she hit a snag. She stood up, quickly striding over to her desk and taking out some mouthwash. "Nothing happened. We just fell asleep." It wasn't clear if she was stating it or asking.

"Sure thing, Boss. I'll um…I'll just go dig out that report myself," Alex said, turning and almost walking into the door frame in his hurry to flee the scene.

"You were going to rest your eyes. I was finishing reports…I guess I fell asleep, too," Callie said shakily, still struggling to get her bearings.

"Right." Arizona said, sitting down in her chair and pulling out a small bag from under her desk. It was her backup in case she slept in her office, except she used it so much maybe it wasn't much of a backup anymore. "I'm going to use my bathroom to change. Do you wanna use it or…?" She trailed off, not really sure what to say to Callie.

"No. No, I…um…I need to uh…go. Yeah…go…" Callie muttered, getting to her feet and avoiding eye contact as she headed for the door. Now that she was waking up more she was starting to remember how last night felt: strained, but in some ways almost normal. That, on top of the bits of the dream that were filtering back to her mind, had her reeling and she needed to get away before she puked or kissed Arizona or both.

"Hey!" Cristina cried out indignantly, just coming out of a stall when Callie burst into the bathroom. Stepping to the sink, she started to wash her hands, looking over at Callie. "Why are you wearing the same thing as yesterday? Did you and Robbins finally hook back up?"

"What? No! What did Alex tell you?" Callie snapped, whirling on her sort of friend. Of course the bathroom wouldn't be empty. Why would she be that lucky?

"Karev didn't tell me anything. But it doesn't take someone as smart as me to figure out you and Robbins still want in each other's pants and lives. There is nothing platonic about the way you two act with each other. It's like you're a couple without the sex. So, you know, lesbians."

"Shut up. What do you know about relationships, anyway? We don't…I don't…we're not…" Callie stammered out, grunting in frustration. "We can't. We're not together because we can't be. It doesn't matter what we feel. We're over and that's it. You don't fuck up like I did and get another chance," she insisted, leaning back against the wall and tilting her head up to keep from crying. They were happy…they were so happy in her dream and the kicker was that she knew that was real once upon a time.

"Idiot," Cristina muttered. She never got involved with other people's relationships. She was way too annoyed by most people to do that. But she and Callie were kind of friends, so it felt wrong just to say nothing. "What did you fuck up so badly that if you love her you can't fix ?"

"I just did, okay? I don't want to talk about it," Callie snapped, sinking down to sit on the floor, back still to the wall. Seemed like her back was always to a wall these days, literally and figuratively. "I do love her," she admitted quietly. It was the first time she had done that out loud. "I still love her so much, but…it's not enough. I hurt her too badly and I'm too broken. I can't be who she needs me to be."

"I don't get into people's lives. I don't like or care about people enough for that," Cristina started, trying to keep up her wall even with her friend, "but if you ask me, you and Robbins are about the only two people on the planet who could make a relationship work with the other. If you don't get over your shit, you're both going to lose out."

"Thanks for trying to be human." Callie smirked weakly, closing her eyes and taking a slow breath. She still had a full work day ahead of her and she couldn't exactly call in sick, so she needed to keep it together. "I think I've already lost, though, and that…that hurts more than you can imagine."

"Look. I know that you are the type of girl to toss yourself on a live grenade so you can save a bunch of puppies." Cristina hated people like that. Run the other way, stupid. "But Arizona is a big girl. She can handle what happened. You can't handicap her. It isn't right, Torres."

"Gee, thanks, Yoda," Callie snorted with more than a touch of bitterness. "I don't know. Maybe I'll try talking to her when we get our mandatory time off. Maybe. It's not fair to stress her out with this crap now while we've got cases and she's so worried about handling the brass," she said, mostly to get Cristina to leave her alone.

"Lying to me is really not smart." Rolling her eyes, Cristina walked out of the bathroom. She hated to care about someone. That always bit her in the ass, but Callie had been there for her before. She really did hope she got the girl in the end. Just so she'd stop crying in the bathroom.

"Fuck," Callie breathed out shakily, closing her eyes and letting the tears finally come. Images of her dream flitted hauntingly through her mind, taunting her with how happy and loved and whole she used to be. How the hell did she make such a mess of things and end up here? How did she become the sad pathetic girl who cried alone in the bathroom?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N - This is a huge chapter and really the turning point in Callie and Arizona's relationship during this story. Remember not all is as it seams so don't get too worried until it all comes out what did or did not happen.

Sit back, relax and enjoy!

"The wheels are up in ten. I'll brief you all on the plane. This is a big one, ladies and Alex," Arizona called, walking out of her boss's office. It had been nearly a month since Callie and Arizona had really talked to each other. They worked on cases, but they made sure to give each other a wide berth. Arizona knew that Callie wouldn't tell her yet why they broke up, so she just needed to stay away.

"Thanks for the special mention." Alex smirked, getting to his feet and grabbing his go bag. "There any food on the plane?" he asked no one in particular, getting no response like normal. It was no secret that he was a bottomless pit when it came to food.

"Well, she couldn't say gentleman," Teddy chucked at the younger agent. "We all know that you're just a big ape who learned to shave and not scratch his ass in public, most of the time." She and Alex had become pretty close in the last few months. He was a good guy and he had become a great agent.

Callie's smile was bittersweet as she watched the exchange. She and Arizona were avoiding each other like the plague whenever possible, Teddy still wouldn't give her the time of day, and Alex was skittish around her after walking in on her and Arizona cuddling. So basically, she worked hard on cases, spent her downtime alone, and went home to an empty, cold apartment. She was the girl in the back of class all over again.

"Yeah right, Altman. You're just upset that I'm more of a stud than your fairy husband." Alex smirked, ducking the pen that was thrown at him.

"My husband could hack into your bank account and clear it out faster than you could say, 'Special Agent Altman, please forgive me,'" Teddy laughed deeply as they headed out toward the plane.

"So what did they send us this time?" Callie asked after they were all settled on the plane. Arizona was up front, Teddy across from her, and Alex a few seats away. She settled in a few seats behind Alex.

"Someone is murdering men. All four men have been killed the same way, a single shot to the heart after they have been castrated, and then forced down their throats are their...packages." Arizona could see Alex shift in his seat. "The reason we're being called in is that the last victim was the nephew of the chief of police."

"Great. So we have to deal with the cops being all pissy about us being on their turf," Callie groaned, taking the folder Alex passed back her way. "Hate to sound like a broken record, but this sounds personal. For obvious reasons."

"The poor, poor men." Alex looked at the photos, feeling like he might vomit. Few cases made him feel that way, but seeing what he was seeing made him feel like he needed to catch this bastard quickly. "I wouldn't wish this one on any dude."

"I don't know. I could think of a few guys who deserve it," Callie said, mind unwillingly flashing back to the single most horrific event of her life before she could reel it back in. "Uh...so what do they have? Any leads or forensic evidence?" she asked hurriedly, moving the conversation along.

"The killer wears gloves and tazers them. So we have to assume the unsub either can't or doesn't think they can restrain these men. The cuts are made without any hesitation marks, so this person knows what to do," Arizona supplied. She didn't really like this case, but it wasn't the worst she had ever seen.

"So they're likely physically smaller or impaired in some way. Otherwise they'd probably use more force to overpower the victims," Teddy said, flipping through the photos. "Blood loss indicates the men are alive when they're castrated. Definitely seems like someone's trying to send a message."

"Maybe it's a man-hating women," Alex said with a shrug. "I know I have had more than one bitch tell me she was going to cut my nuts off and shove them down my throat."

"But doing it is something else. This takes anger, and a lot of it," Teddy said, shivering a bit as she read through some of the medical autopsy notes. "So the question comes back to motive. What would make someone, probably a woman, actually act out this threat and on these men?"

"Rape," Callie said evenly, her voice quiet. "A woman who was raped and didn't get justice would be more than angry enough for this."

"Women kill using other means. Very few women would kill in this manner," Arizona pointed out, trying to figure out why Callie was sitting so far back and looked so pale. "I think for right now we need to assume it's a male, but keep our eyes open to maybe female." She didn't want to shut any doors, but she wasn't sure a woman could have this much rage.

"Has Yang looked into the victims yet?" Callie said, not willing to let it drop completely, even if she knew she had to be careful so as not to arouse suspicion from Arizona. "Is there any connection?"

"She hasn't gotten back to us yet. Apparently, most of the files for this town are done on paper. She is not happy about that." Arizona snorted, knowing Cristina was on the phone yelling at someone about it. "But when she gets more, she'll call us."

"Not to sound crass, but what about the gay angle?" Teddy asked, more than willing not to back Callie up on this, especially since she thought she was wrong anyway. "A guy with repressed sexual urges snaps? It's a stretch, but it could fit."

"I think that's a long shot, but we will keep it in the running for now." Arizona said as she looked over the photos, trying to figure out why someone would do all of this. "We have to meet with the chief today. Everything else is happening tomorrow since it's so late," she added, turning back forward when it was time for them to buckle up.

"Do we have rooms booked already?" Teddy asked. "I kind of need to call Henry about something important, so if you can spare me from meeting with the brass…" she wondered hopefully, not usually one to shirk duty.

"We will meet for breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 7 AM. We all have our own rooms this time." Arizona handed Teddy a card with the information on it. She was glad that tonight there was only one meeting. The last thing she wanted was to be swamped with information before her team was ready for it.

"You can just drop me at the hotel. I think I'm just going to turn in early," Callie said as they left the police station. She was glad they had three cars this time, allowing Teddy to get to the hotel and Alex to leave the meeting on his own. She just wished there were four so she wasn't stuck with Arizona.

"I was going to grab some dinner before I went to bed. I was hoping you would join me and we could talk about your idea. The more I think about it, the more I think you might be on to something," Arizona said, giving Callie a small smile. She had doubted it at first, but when the police chief admitted that his nephew had been acquitted of rape, Arizona felt a lightbulb go off.

"Really? You do?" Callie said in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that. In fact, she'd been gearing up for having to work her angle on her own. "Well…um…okay, then. I guess I could at least use a drink." She nodded, still looking surprised that Arizona might be taking her side.

"The chief told me after you and Alex walked out of the room that his nephew Kyle had been acquitted of rape charges, on a 17 year old girl, less than 6 months ago." She shared the piece of information. "If Cristina can find that the others have similar records then we might have something."

"If they've all be acquitted or gotten off, then that makes sense. She's hunting them down and making them pay by taking what they used as a weapon. I'd bet money she's somehow involved in the legal system, too, but nothing high up. A law clerk, a secretary for a judge or lawyer, maybe a court recorder," Callie said, her mind going a mile a minute with this new information.

"I think she's a doctor." Arizona shook her head. "The cuts on these guys were perfect. They were cut in a way that made the blood flow as little as possible so they would be alive longer. I bet she treats other rape victims." She could see how a woman in that position, who was then assaulted and saw her attacker let go, could snap.

"That would fit, too. I didn't get through all the medical reports yet," Callie said, not mentioning that she couldn't because the clinical language and her own hypothesis had her thinking about rape victims' medical reports instead. "If Cristina can find some sort of connection, that will help us narrow things down. Maybe she worked with all the victims?"

"I'll tell her about that and have her work her magic." Arizona got out of the car, waiting for Callie before walking in. Thankfully, the place was pretty deserted, except for a group of college-aged guys watching a game on the big TV. "I think I have a way to draw her out."

"What's that? And if it involves putting you in danger, then the answer is no. I'll even be able to get Teddy on my side for that," Callie said quickly, not liking the idea of Arizona being at risk more than she already was.

"First of all, I think you are forgetting who the boss in all of this. Secondly, I think we should say we're moving all men acquitted of rape into custody for their protection. That way, she will be forced to go after her attacker. Though figuring out who she is first is the key." Arizona knew the plan wasn't perfect, but she hadn't thought about it too hard yet.

"Except we can't actually move those men into custody. And saying we will is going to have us nailed to the wall. It'll give her sympathy and likely lose us evidence and tips," Callie pointed out, leaving the comment about who was boss alone for now.

"You always point out the problems with my half-baked plans. Clearly you aren't trying to kiss up to the boss," Arizona grumbled, taking a sip of her drink and leaning back in her seat. "What do you suggest?"

"We need to figure out who she is before we can lure her out like you said. For now, we keep working the case and get Yang to look into acquitted rapists in say…the last two months. That seems about when her trigger happened. We find out who's in the city and try to track them down. We also look into the victims, see if any of them are nurses or doctors, etc. That will give us more information," Callie explained, surprised she was all calm and making a plan when usually she was as half-assed as Arizona.

"I think these cases are hard on you." Arizona reached over for Callie's hand. "I mean, when your cousin is attacked by one of these monsters, it makes it hard to think clearly." She could tell Callie was off and assumed it was from her cousin's attack six years ago. "But we got that guy and we'll get more like him. We'll get whoever is doing this, too."

"We didn't get him in time," Callie said stiffly, jaw aching from how hard she was clenching it. Her cousin still wasn't the same, even after six years. Arizona's hand felt like it was burning her, but she couldn't bring herself to pull away, needing the contact too much.

"No, we didn't," Arizona admitted, hating that someone who was so important in Callie's life was hurt like that. She hated that any women were hurt like that, to be honest. "I wish that I could make things different, but I can't. She shouldn't have had to go through that."

"No, she shouldn't have." Callie nodded, looking down at the table. "I should have done more. I should have been there for her. I knew she was having a hard time with her parents' divorce. Maybe if I'd been there for her talk to, she wouldn't have been out wandering around that night."

"Calliope." Arizona lifted her other hand to Callie's cheek, making her look over. "I know this is hard even after all this time, but this isn't about her or you. That was about a sicko who did something wrong. He was the bad guy. He was the sick one. Mara should have been able to go out without worrying about an attacker. He did wrong, not her or you."

"I know it's not her fault," Callie said, eyes flashing with anger. Her idiot uncle, well ex-uncle now, tried to blame Mara for it and Callie had nearly shot him. "But I still should have protected her. That's my job. It's what I do. I protect the people I love and I keep failing at it," she said, not sure if she was talking about Mara or her and Arizona now.

"You can't protect everyone," Arizona said firmly before she went with her gut and leaned over, kissing Callie's cheek to try to get her to cool down,though she wasn't sure it was the right move. "I think you don't give yourself the credit you deserve," she whispered, her lips tingling a little bit from the contact.

"I…uh…I…" Callie stuttered dumbly, struck mute and motionless from Arizona's chaste kiss. God, the effect that woman had on her… "I think you're wrong, but thank you for saying that. It means a lot, especially after…well, everything," she said softly, glad the waiter was nearing their table again. She needed a drink like crazy.

Just after the waiter took their orders, Arizona got up to use the bathroom, needing to have a second to herself. All the emotions already between her and Callie were really starting to get to her. Callie was still the person she wanted to protect the most, to hold and whisper sweet words to, and not having her be that person anymore and yet seeing her day in and day out was damn hard. Coming out of the bathroom, a tall, drunk, college guy stood in her way. "Pardon me, please."

"Hi there, sugar tits." Dave grinned, eyes a little glassy and beer practically seeping out of his pores. "You here all alone? Pretty think...thig...thing like you shouldn't be lonesome," he declared, burping at the end.

"Trust me, kid. I could break you in ways you can't dream of. Now step out of the way before I hurt you," Arizona said firmly, her tone hard and leaving no room for any sane or sober person to argue. She had dealt with her fair share of morons in college and afterward, and she knew a firm hand was best. She really couldn't stand guys like this, but decided not to shoot him yet.

"Hurt me? Baby, I can take whatever you dish out and it ain't gonna hurt." Dave smirked, stepping closer and backing her into a wall. "Come on. Gimme a taste." He grinned, leaning in and mashing his lips to hers as he pinned her in place.

After a few minutes, Callie wondered what was keeping Arizona. She knew it was probably nothing but she had a feeling in her gut, one she'd learned the hard way not to ignore. Getting up, she slowly headed toward the bathrooms, her pace picking up when she rounded the corner and saw some dude advancing on Arizona and pinning her to a wall. "Hey!" she yelled when he kissed Arizona, grabbing his arm and wrenching it behind his back, jerking on the arm as she slammed him into the floor and pinned him there easily.

"Ugh," Arizona grunted in disgust as she brought her hand up to her mouth and wiped it. All she could taste was spit and beer. Why did the drunk frat boys always want to kiss her? It had been happening since college. "Thank you. I really didn't want to have to introduce his balls to my knee." She reached out a hand to help Callie get to her feet. She saw a flash of something in her eyes, but it was quickly gone.

"It's fine. I don't mind introducing dickwads like this to the floor. Didn't anyone ever tell you no means no?" Callie said, grinding her knee into the back of her prisoner. It was taking everything she had not to snap completely. How dare he touch Arizona like that?

"Callie, let him go." Arizona didn't like the way Callie was acting. She had seen Callie get protective before, but this was somehow different. "Get off of him and let him go. He's an asshole, but he's just a drunk kid." She put a hand on Callie's shoulder, trying to snap her out of whatever was going on.

Callie flinched at Arizona's touch, whirling around and grabbing her hand and twisting her wrist enough for Arizona to cry out in pain. That sound shocked her back to reality and she let go of Arizona like she'd been burned. "Oh, god..." She gasped, feeling sick. Getting to her feet, she let go of the drunk, who hurriedly scrambled away.

"Wait!" Arizona called after Callie, the pain in her wrist only making her move more quickly after the other woman. She wasn't sure what was going on with her, but she had to make sure she was all right. She had never seen Callie look that out of it before, not without drinks in her at least. Slipping into the elevator, she saw Callie's back. "Calliope?"

"Get the next one," Callie said, her voice not sounding recognizable even to herself. She knew she was close to a panic attack, if not already having one, and it was taking everything she had not to break down. Seeing Arizona like that, being held and kissed against her will, it flipped something inside of her.

"No," Arizona said firmly but quietly, hitting the button that closed the doors. She knew she needed to figure out what was going on before it went any farther. "Calliope, it's Arizona. Honey, it's me," she whispered, a little bit worried about Callie's mental state. "What happened back there?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened," Callie said, saying it as much to remind herself of that as to get Arizona to back off. "I'm just stressed and tired, and this case isn't about to help that. I'll be fine after some sleep," she insisted, back still to Arizona.

"Calliope, we both know that you snapped back there. My only question is why," Arizona asked gently as she stepped forward, her hand going back on Callie's shoulder to try to get her to turn around. When she got her wish she almost wished she hadn't. As she looked into Callie's eyes for a second she didn't see a member of her team but her ex-lover who was in pain.

"Please…" Callie whispered, not sure what she was pleading for. She wanted to spill her guts and tell Arizona everything. At the same time, she wanted to tell Arizona to fuck off and act like her boss, to write her up if she wanted. What she did was neither of those things. No, instead she lunged forward, pinning Arizona to the wall of the elevator and kissing her with everything she had.

Caught off guard, Arizona didn't do anything for a few seconds. But then the feeling of Callie pressed against her, kissing her, registered in her mind. The feelings were all there in a flash, nothing repressed and nothing in the background. Lifting her hands to Callie's hips, she tugged her closer, needing as much of a connection in this moment as possible.

Callie moaned into the kiss, breaking for air for a brief second before diving back in again. The warmth and softness of Arizona's body, the familiar press of her sidearm against her hip, hands clawing at her hips…It all feels so right, so perfect. She could die right here in this moment and die happy.

"Callie…" Arizona whimpered when she felt both of their cheeks grow damp. She wasn't really sure who was crying or if it was both of them. It felt so good to be kissing Callie again, to feel like she was connected to Callie in this way. "Come back to my room," she whispered when the elevator dinged, signaling they were on the ninth floor. "Please."

"I…I can't," Callie whispered brokenly, her lips brushing Arizona's as she spoke. She lingered, drinking in Arizona's scent and her warmth and her pure and perfect presence before finally forcing herself to pull back. "I'm sorry," she forced out, her voice strangled and her eyes filled with nothing but pure pain as she stumbled from the elevator and blindly moved down the hall.

"Calliope!" Arizona called as she rushed after her again, feeling lately like she was always rushing after Callie. She got to her before Callie was able to shut the door. "Just let me hold you. We don't have to talk, do anything, or commit to anything. Please, baby, just let me hold you. I can see you need me," she whispered, reaching over the threshold to stroke Callie's cheek.

"Arizona…" Callie whimpered, so close to the edge of breaking down that it was like she was standing on her tiptoes on the edge of a cliff. It would only take a slight breeze to push her over and Arizona's touch served as exactly that. "Can you? Can you just hold me?" she whispered, her voice raw and ragged. She needed this, more then she could admit even to herself.

"Yes," Arizona answered as she stepped over the threshold, shutting and locking the door behind her. "Give me your gun and your back up." She knew Callie always carried a second piece. After putting Callie's and hers in a safe place, she helped Callie change before borrowing a t-shirt and changing herself. She was worried at how broken-down Callie looked, how much she was in her own head. It wasn't something she was used to with Callie.

"Thanks," Callie sniffed, still struggling to hold back her tears. This was a horrible idea, so horrible it was ludicrous, but the idea of being alone right now made it impossible to do so much as breathe. She felt Arizona guide her to the bed and tuck her in, and a few seconds later, she felt the mattress dip as Arizona slipped in behind her.

"I'm here if you need me. I promise I won't let the monsters get you," Arizona murmured softly as her arms wrapped around Callie, pulling her back slightly into her own body. She needed to make Callie felt safe so she could get some sleep. She hoped that line would do the trick. "I promise I'll keep the monsters away from you, baby."

"I know you will," Callie whimpered as the dam finally broke and she started to sob quietly, her body shaking as the tears streamed forth. She didn't know how long she lay like that, just crying her heart and soul out as Arizona held her, but after a while, she ran out of tears and her breath became less ragged. Emotionally exhausted, she closed her heavy eyes and let sleep take her body, praying it would be a deep and dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N - And now it all comes out.

* * *

Arizona didn't get any sleep that night. She was far too worried about Callie and what could have caused her to act like that. She had seen Callie be protective before and in that moment, Arizona did need some backup, but she could have gotten out of the situation. The help didn't hurt though, and that Callie had thought to come check on her was comforting. But she had never seen the far-off look in Callie's eyes when she smashed the drunken frat boy into the ground. Something was going on that she didn't know about, something that made her worry for Callie's mental health. As Callie woke up, Arizona bent down, kissing her temple.

"Morning," Arizona whispered softly, not wanting to startle her…"bedmate" might have been the most neutral term she could force to mind.

"Huh..." Callie groaned, grunting as she tried to open her heavy and sore eyes. Damn it, she forgot how much she fucking hated crying. "Ugh…what the hell?" she muttered, sleepily trying to piece everything together. Why was Arizona there? And had she been crying?

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Arizona ran a hand over Callie's arm. She hoped that Callie would be able to give her some answers and not have suppressed it all already. "I know that you were upset, but you hadn't been drinking or anything."

"I…uh…yeah, I was upset," Callie mumbled, pushing herself into a sitting position and shoving her hair out of her face. Noticing her shirt, she lifted the sheets and saw the sweat pants she had on. "Um…when did I change?" she asked, trying to not blush while she made eye contact.

"I helped you when we got back to the room." Arizona sat up, showing off one of Callie's shirts and the sweats that belonged to her, too. "I borrowed some to sleep in." She ducked her head, blushing as she remembered the way Callie's eyes flashed over her body when she changed.

"That's okay. You always look better in my clothes than I do anyway," Callie said softly. "I…um…I'm sorry about last night. I was way out of line. It won't happen again," she said, looking down at the blankets and studying the random design.

"Callie, are you all right to work this case or do you want me to take you off of it?" Arizona asked evenly. She knew she had to be a little bit blunt right now. If Callie wasn't able to work this case, she needed her off so she wouldn't get hurt or hurt someone else. "There is no shame in taking a break, you know."

"No. No, I'm not getting taken off this case. Don't you dare even think about it," Callie snapped quickly and firmly. "I'm fine to be on this case. It's not easy, but I can handle it," she insisted, staring Arizona in the eye.

"You're not fine, but okay," Arizona said as she looked back at Callie, trying to find a hint of something, though she wasn't sure what. "Do you remember kissing me last night? Why did you kiss me?" she asked before she was able to stop herself. She wanted an answer; she wanted a lot of answers, really.

"I…um…I don't know," Callie mumbled unconvincingly, not looking up. "No, that's not true." She sighed, forcing herself to look up and meet Arizona's eyes. "I was hurting and this case and seeing that guy grab you got to me. I just…you were there…and I…it was a weak moment and I slipped up."

"Why does it have to be slipping up?" Arizona asked after not anything for a few moments, trying to figure out if it was worth trying to go down this road again. "We clearly both want to be together. We both still love each other. Calliope, tell me why that kiss has to be a slip-up and can't be the start of us getting back together."

"Because I'm a mess, and it's all I can do just to get up and function. You don't need that," Callie insisted, slipping her feet out from the covers and onto the floor. "And because we're like oil and water. We don't know how to breathe together, let alone do anything else," she said as she got up.

"I'm not sure I know how to breathe without you. All I feel is cold and sad when I'm not yours. But last night, I was worried about you and I was scared, but damn it, I was warm. I felt like I was finally warm again," Arizona said while she watched Callie walk across the room, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tight.

"Me too," Callie whispered softly, her back to Arizona as she started to change into work appropriate clothes. "But that moment, that perfect, beautiful moment, doesn't change all the crap-on-fire style baggage we have. So…we work. We go back to work and we kick this case's ass. That's what we do. The rest…the rest we just leave alone for now," she said, not denying that there was something to work on or that they needed to talk quite as firmly as she usual would.

"Okay," Arizona whispered back, slipping out of bed and wraping her arms around Callie's waist, pressing against her naked back. "I'll leave it alone for now. I don't want to put too much pressure on you if this case is too hard. But we have to figure out what the hell we're doing before one of us screws up and gets killed."

"Thanks. You always were too good to me." Callie smiled weakly, fighting back all the same emotions from last night. "So…breakfast? We have a team thing, right? So we should get going, I guess. I don't really want to give Teddy more to give me crap about."

"Let me go back to my room and change first. I don't think showing up like this would work well for me." Arizona gestured to Callie's PJ's. "I'll give them back tomorrow. Unless you want to make me walk down the hall naked or in yesterday's clothing."

"No, take them. It's fine. Get them back whenever. No rush," Callie said with a small smile. It was wrong, but it was kind of nice to think about Arizona wearing her clothes. "I'll see you downstairs in a bit. And um…thank you again for last night."

Three days later the team sat quietly in the conference room of the police station as they all pored over the case file. They had yet to figure out who could be the murderer, even though they knew it had to be one of about five women, and they were fast becoming frustrated. They were smart, experienced, and successful agents who had caught some of the worst people out there and yet they were hitting a wall with every lead they tried.

"Cristina, tell me you have something," Arizona demanded as she answered her phone on speaker, desperate to have some break in this damn case.

"Damn right, bitches," Cristina singsonged. "I have a connection between all the victims and one of the suspects. She wasn't on shift when the women came through initially, so we missed it. But I'm awesome so I went back and found it. All the rape victims these men were accused of assaulting stayed the night and she works mornings so she handled their discharges. Only one woman handled all of them, Jessica Morrison."

"Where does Ben Watson work? We need to bring him in before we go find her," Arizona asked as a sigh went though the group as they heard the name. She had been on the list, but they dismissed her because she had presented as someone too mild to do something this extreme and she hadn't fit the timeline.

"Already on it. I am no foolish amateur. He works at the municipal offices downtown. He's a city maintenance guy and he's on shift from 9 until 5 today. I already called down there and he should be back at the office for lunch by 1," Cristina said, reading the info off of her screen.

"Teddy, you and Alex go by Jessica's work and pick her up. If she's not there, go to her home. Callie and I are going to go pick up Ben Watson before she decides to take him out." Arizona stood up after the phone call. "Let's try to do this as delicately as possible. The press has been on her side from the start of this."

"What's the plan if she's already after Ben?" Callie asked as she got up and secured her side arm. Her blood was already pounding at the idea of finally coming face to face with the unsub, of finally ending this case and getting the hell out of here.

"You and I both might wish we were able to let her kill the bastard. But since we can't, we need to secure him and take her down. If she's already there, we can try telling her we have a few more questions and draw her away," Arizona said, knowing Callie probably wouldn't really like the answer.

"So, standard procedure then. Save the victim no matter what we think of them, get the unsub, preferably alive," Callie said, triple checking her gun.

"As much as I hate it, yes." Arizona nodded as she got behind the wheel of the SUV, heading toward the downtown area. "We need to handle this carefully, Calliope. She's shown she knows how to kill. She's not like you or me. She's not playing by the rules."

"They never do." Callie nodded solemnly, falling quiet as she prepared herself for whatever they were about to walk into. It never really got easier to walk into the unknown, not knowing what would happen or how your life would be threatened. Pulling up to the building, they didn't see Jessica's blue bug, so they walked inside. They needed to get Watson out of his office and to the police station without any fuss or drama.

"You ready for this?" Arizona asked, turning her head to Callie as they neared Watson's office.

"As I'll ever be." Callie nodded, hating when they had to protect the bad guys. And she'd seen this guy's file. He was no guy next door. "Let's just get this done and hope Teddy and Alex find Jessica," she said, reaching for the door handle.

"Ben Watson?" Arizona called as they stepped into the room, instantly feeling that something was something was off. It wasn't until she felt the barrel of a gun in her back, though, that she knew exactly how off things were. "Jessica, you don't have to do this," she said automatically as she slowly put her hands up, wishing she had checked behind the door before they put their backs to it.

Callie vaguely heard Arizona talking as she crumpled to the floor, sharp electric pain radiating through her. She wasn't sure what the hell had just happened, but she knew her vision was fuzzy and she couldn't seem to get her body to move the way she wanted. Electric pain…wait, Jessica used a taser on her victims. Son of a bitch. She struggled to get up but she couldn't make her body do anything she wanted it do.

After quickly shutting and locking the door, Jessica started pacing the room. She looked at the scumbag she had tied to his chair and then to the two FBI agents she had stripped of their guns, which she'd put against the far wall. She wasn't sure how this had all gotten out of hand. The first guy she killed, she hadn't meant to. She'd gone to his apartment just to get him to admit to what he had done. Now she had killed so many men and had taken two FBI agents hostage.

"Jessica…I'm SSA Callie Torres. This is SSA Arizona Robbins. We're part of a team. The rest of our team is going to come looking for us. If you just stop this now, we can help you. You don't have to do this," Callie said, looking around the room as she tried to find a way out of this. She knew she had to tread carefully to keep Jessica from snapping completely.

"You can help me? That's what the cops and the DA said about him." Jessica raised her voice as she pointed the gun toward the man tied up in his chair. "They said if I came forward and told the jury what he did to me, he would go to jail. But he didn't. He didn't. So I had to teach him and men like him not to mess with women."

"Okay, I hear you. He's a bad man and he hurt you and no one can ever make that right. Even if he goes to jail, even if he's dead, it won't make it right. Trust me, nothing makes it right," Callie said, her voice cracking a bit.

"How would you know what it feels like? You have no idea how it feels to have someone rape you, have someone put his hands all over you and to make you do things against your will. You can't know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night after having a nightmare where he has hours and hours to violate you." Jessica laughed humorlessly at the comments. She knew? How could she possibly know anything?

"Yes, I can. I know exactly what it's like," Callie said quietly, trying to ignore the fact that Arizona was sitting next to her. "I do know what it's like. I know because I was raped too, so I get it," she said, pushing herself up to her feet and staring at Jessica.

"Don't move or I'll shoot you!" Jessica hissed, not sure if she bought that Callie was raped. What if it was all a trick to get on her good side? "You're just saying that to make me trust you. You don't care about me and I bet you weren't even raped."

From beside Callie, Arizona's head snapped up. She felt her blood run cold in her veins at the admission from Callie. She knew at once that it wasn't Callie just trying to get on someone's good side. Callie was never one to do something as extreme as saying she was raped if she wasn't. Moments from the past started to fill in; moments that used to be mysteries suddenly became clear.

"Oh, God, that's what happened while I was in Texas," Arizona gasped as the sickening realization hit home. Moving to her left she emptied what was left in her stomach into a nearby wastebasket.

"He was big, a lot bigger than I am. And he smelled like stale cigarettes. I remember the smell the most. Even now, I can't stand it," Callie said, finishing getting to her feet slowly so as not to spook Jessica. Getting up was risky, but better to get shot trying to fix this on her feet than to be gunned down like a dog on the floor. She tuned out Arizona beside her, needing to focus so she could keep it together. "I was raped. I know you think it's a trick, but it isn't. And this, what you're doing, it won't help. Killing him didn't help me and it won't help you."

"Why do you get to kill yours and I don't get to kill mine?" Jessica asked as tears she had held back since the day that he raped her started to flow. Her hand was shaking so much that it shook the gun that was pointed at Callie. "Why do you get to know he's in the ground and I don't?"

"It's no prize, I promise. It didn't fix anything. It didn't help. It didn't make it better. I still hurt every single day, even knowing he's dead. Killing him won't undo what happened," Callie said gently. "Just put the gun down. Stop this now before it gets any worse."

"He can't go to jail because he was acquitted. How can I put this gun down knowing that he is going to be out walking the streets?" Jessica asked, keeping it pointed at Callie but lowering it from her head. "How do I do that?"

Arizona wiped her mouth, not saying a word. She was too shocked to talk right now even if she wanted to. Callie was raped. Someone had raped her girlfriend. Someone cracked their relationship apart and tore their lives into a shredded mess. It made sense now - as much as something like that could make sense, anyway. All the little signs over the years were starting to line up. Someone had raped the woman she loved. She didn't keep her safe.

"We'll get him. We can find something to get him on. And even if we can't, his face is going to be everywhere now, and he'll have to testify. He's never going to get near a woman again after this," Callie said confidently, knowing it was true. Even if legally they couldn't do anything, the court of public opinion would hang him for them.

Unable to just sit there anymore, Arizona shifted, needing to offer Callie some sort of comfort even if it was years too late. As she reached up to take Callie's hand she heard a bang and felt an intense pain in her shoulder. Looking up, she saw an almost shocked look on Jessica's face. Opening her mouth, a small grunt came out. She had been shot. Someone had raped Callie and she had just been shot. Fuck.

"No!" Callie screamed out, her heart stopping and ripping from her chest all in a single instant. She couldn't breathe or think or feel anything other than terror as she dropped to her knees and immediately pressed her hands to Arizona's wound. "No, no, no…Arizona, please…" she whimpered, tearing up as she felt warm blood cover her hands. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't lose her, not now. She had to tell her so many things; she had to explain, damn it.

Turning quickly, before anyone could stop her, Jessica unloaded the other five bullets in her gun into the head of the man who ended her life. She dropped the gun and looked back over at Arizona and Callie. She didn't seem to understand that she had been the one to shoot Arizona. She'd only wanted to hurt the man who had destroyed her.

"Let me help you. I'm a doctor," Jessica said, looking lost and dazed.

"Don't you touch her!" Callie screamed, leaping to her feet and landing a solid punch on Jessica's jaw. The only thing that kept her from snapping completely and beating the other woman senseless was the sight of Arizona's blood on her hands. Grabbing her handcuffs, she quickly cuffed the other woman as she called in their location and situation to Yang. "Arizona…Arizona, baby, talk to me. Stay with me," she urged as she collapsed next to her injured…partner? Co-worker? Love of her life? No term seemed to fit these days. All she knew was that she still loved Arizona and she'd wasted so much time not telling her. She just wanted a chance to make it right, or at least to try.


	7. Chapter 7

Warning - Mention of rape and talk about the subject of rape.

Thanks Anna!

* * *

"I'm sorry, Mariposa. I'm so, so sorry," Callie whispered, reaching out and tenderly stroking Arizona's cheek. "Just…Just wake up, okay? I don't care if you hate me and kick me off the team, just…wake up," she pled, holding Arizona's hand tightly in hers as she sat vigil by her bed. She had refused to be separated from her, only letting her out of her sight for the lifesaving surgery she needed. When the EMT's had arrived she had demanded to ride in the ambulance and they had quickly agreed, not wanting to argue with the angry woman with a gun. Then she stayed in the ER, hovering anxiously as the doctors worked, and shadowed Arizona's gurney as they rushed her off until she wasn't allowed to anymore, relegated to pacing the hall frantically instead. Now she sat by her bedside waiting, praying for her to wake up.

Arizona heard a voice, one that she knew and would always want to hear, calling her back to consciousness. Letting out a soft groan as she came to a little more, she tried to move, instantly regretting it. She felt the pain in her body, most notably her shoulder, hit her all at once and she started wishing she were unconscious again. Then she heard that voice she so loved to hear and she forced herself to focus and hang on to consciousness. She needed to get to that voice.

"Hey, hey, easy…" Callie urged, sitting up straighter and reaching over to still Arizona's movements. "Take it easy, baby. You're in the hospital, but you're going to be okay. You're going to be okay," she finished in a whisper, closing her eyes for a second and taking the first real breath since Arizona was shot.

"Ouch," Arizona grunted, her voice sounding groggy as she tried to move the shoulder she was shot in. As Callie's words registered and she felt hands on her she stopped moving; it hurt too much anyway, and she nodded her consent weakly. She had been shot before and always hated the feeling of helplessness. "How did it all end? Did we get Jessica alive?" She hoped they had, even though on the books she was just like any other unsub. It was different and both she and Callie knew it.

"We did. She…uh…she emptied her gun into Ben after she shot you and then surrendered. I cuffed her and then took care of you. She's in custody now. I don't know much more than that. Teddy is handling it all," Callie said, keeping her voice calm and soothing. She'd been there before, unfortunately, and she knew how freaked out Arizona got in hospitals.

"Not a total loss," Arizona said, taking a few semi-deep breaths. She wanted to feel a little stronger than she did before trying to sit up. Opening her eyes, she turned her head to take in Callie while she gathered her strength. Callie looked like she hadn't eaten or slept in a very long time, bags under her eyes and her paler-looking skin clear signs she wasn't looking after herself. "You look like shit, baby," she stated bluntly.

"Gee, thanks. You're a regular snake charmer," Callie snorted, shaking her head at Arizona's bluntness. "Don't worry about me. Just focus on getting better, okay? The nurse was by about a half ago and said your incision looked great. You're going to be pretty sore, but it was mostly a flesh wound," she said, smoothing some hair away from Arizona's face and adjusting her pillow to help her sit up more easily, knowing she wouldn't want to stay prone for long.

"Thanks," Arizona muttered, leaning forward to help Callie a little bit, though Callie still needed to do most of the work re-adjusting the pillows. She reached over to take Callie's hand after she sat back down. She had no idea what to say, other than thanks. How did they talk about all they had to talk about?

"Just worry about getting better," Callie said again, seeing the wheels spinning in Arizona's mind. She was scared to think what they were spinning about. "I'm right here and I'm going to stay right here. I promise. Jessica's in custody. Teddy is handling the loose ends and paperwork. Everything's taken care of. Just relax and get better."

"We have to talk once I'm out of here. But for right now, I don't think I'm mentally ready for that talk. But I do want you to know that I'm not mad that it happened to you, just mad you kept it from me." Arizona could tell that Callie was scared about her reaction so she hoped that helped.

"Yeah…" Callie inhaled sharply, closing her eyes and holding her breath for a second before exhaling shakily. "I'm sorry," she whispered, keeping her eyes closed as she fought back tears. She wasn't entirely sure what she was apologizing for. She just knew the words were long overdue.

"Let's get me back to fighting weight and then we'll talk this all out." Arizona lifted Callie's hand to her lips. "We both know that right now neither of us is ready for that talk. I don't want to fuck things up anymore with you. I'm too old for games."

"Okay." Callie nodded weakly, slowly opening her eyes and looking down into Arizona's. "Okay. When you're better," she agreed, thanking Arizona with her eyes for giving her time and for not passing judgment. Not yet anyway. "Are you going to be okay like this? Or should I go find someone to get you more meds?"

"Just sit with me, Calliope," Arizona whispered, needing to have Callie next to her for as long as possible. "I don't want to be alone for the time it takes you to go get someone. I just want you to sit with me and make me feel like I wasn't just shot in the arm."

"Then I'm going to be right here sitting by your side until you kick me out," Callie promised softly, smiling a little when Arizona threaded their fingers together. "How about I tell you about this case I had down in Vegas? It was a crazy case, and we got in a boat load of trouble," she started, picking a story she was pretty sure would entertain Arizona and not bring up any of their issues. She was more than happy just to nod at the giant elephant in the room and not actually talk to it.

"You going to Vegas for any reason is a scary thought." Arizona gave a weak laugh. She wished she was in bed with Callie's arms around her. Still sore and achy, she just wanted to be held right now. "Tell me about all your misadventures, baby."

"Well I do have a fondness for tequila and dancing girls." Callie smirked, leaning back in her chair a bit. "I was paired with some newbie, so I was pretty much a miserable sot the whole case. But in the end, we bagged the bastard and I went out to celebrate. Next thing I know, I'm up on stage with said dancing girls and…well…I woke up in the fountain outside the Prestige Hotel."

"The fountain?" Arizona said, lifting an eyebrow at the story but not saying anything more than that. She knew that Callie loved to dance and drinking tequila was something she loved even more. "Calliope, I think that you are one in a billion." She would have said more, but another person entered the room.

"Hey, boss. Heard you were awake," Teddy said, walking into the room ignoring Callie completely, though she did glance at their joined hands. "Torres, Alex has some paper work for you to do," she tossed out dismissively, not caring if Callie found Alex or not so long as she left her and Arizona alone.

"Go see what Alex needs. Teddy can stay with me while you're gone," Arizona said when Callie opened her mouth to protest. "We'll be fine together while you're gone, honey." She watched to make sure that Teddy knew just how she felt. She couldn't afford to play shades of grey around her.

"You sure?" Callie asked, glancing at Teddy before looking down at Arizona. "Because Alex is a grunt. I can make him just bring it here." She smiled a little, running her hand over Arizona's arm. She trusted Teddy around Arizona, or course she did. She just didn't trust Teddy around her and Arizona's…whatever it was.

"We're fine." Arizona looked Callie in the eye, watching her to make sure she saw that she really was fine. She knew Teddy was going to toss history and facts at her, but she and Callie were more than that. They always had been.

"Okay, I trust you," Callie said softly, leaning down to kiss Arizona. At the last second, though, she hesitated and turned a little so that she kissed Arizona's cheek instead of her lips. "I'll grab us something to eat before I come back. Something better than hospital food, okay?" She smiled, holding Arizona's hand for a few more seconds before getting up and leaving, casting one more look at Teddy.

"Just say it, Teddy, I know you're dying to say it." Arizona knew that Teddy wouldn't be able to hold back for long before she started in on all the ways this was a bad idea. But the feeling of Callie's hand in hers, the feeling of Callie's lips on her cheek, told her that it was the only choice.

"What the hell are you thinking? You're letting her back in. I can see it. I've been seeing it for months now, but this…You can't do this. She ripped your heart out, stomped on it, and then spit on the shreds that were left. You showed up bawling your face off at my house more nights than not and it was her fault. You fought like hell, gave up everything, tried everything, and she just threw it in your face," Teddy ranted, exploding and letting it all out once she started.

"Are you done?" Arizona said after just sitting there, knowing that Teddy needed to get it all out now. It was all true and maybe that made it hurt a little more because Teddy was right. She had been over there crying for months after she and Callie finally broke up. It had been hell on both of them. "I know what happened when I was in Texas," she said, like that was the answer to it all. And really, in so, so many ways, it was.

"So what? So she finally admitted to cheating with some bimbo? Or was it a man, maybe Mark Sloan? Did she get knocked up and have to pretend to break her Catholic morals to get an abortion? What was it? Because nothing I can think of justifies what she did to you. She broke you, Arizona. Broke you. A woman who, when I met her in basic, I thought no one could ever break," Teddy ranted some more, letting out all the pent-up emotions from that time and even more from the shooting.

"She was working on a case when I was gone. She was going to talk to someone they thought might have done it. She went to his house to try to talk to him." Arizona paused, trying to piece together everything Callie had said. Things were a little fuzzy, but she remembered most of the details. "She was raped, Teddy. The bastard raped her."

"W…what?" Teddy balked, not able to wrap her head around that. Callie Torres may have been a lot of things, and her opinion of her may have ranked somewhere at the level of dog shit, but she had to admit she was one tough woman, badass even. "What are you talking about? How could that happen?"

"I don't know all of the details and the only reason I finally know is that she was trying to talk Jessica down and I was there. But I know that she was raped and she didn't tell me to try to protect me. She might have fucked that up, but I didn't help by pushing her the way I did. We both messed up, Teddy. And we both need another chance now that I know." She looked over at her friend, hoping she understood that.

"I…uh…huh," Teddy muttered as she walked with a blank stare and stunned expression over to the chair Callie had been using and slumped weakly into it. "She was raped," she said dumbly, feeling her stomach churn violently as she thought about how she had acted toward the other woman. If she'd known…she never would have judged her the way she did. "Oh…I...oh…"

"Yeah, oh." Arizona swallowed back some bile, not wanting to let the feelings inside her win. "I love her. We might be horrible for each other, we might fight, we might make it hard to breathe, but at the end of the day, I am in love with her. And right now, I choose her, Teddy. I can't help it."

"I still think it's stupid, utterly moronic, and insane…but all right," Teddy said quietly, shaking her head a little. "You two have always been crazy, even back in FBI training. Why stop now? It's not me in this. It's you. I can't make the call for you. You know how I feel and that's all I can do. That and stand by you and support you. So…Alex and I will go back to the office and I'll handle the brass. You and Callie…you do what you need to," she said, resolving to do whatever it took to support Arizona in this even if she thought it was utterly crazy.

"I love you like the sister I never wanted," Arizona said as she reached down with her good hand for Teddy's, giving it a squeeze. She had always said that to Teddy after a fight or during a girls' night out. "Thank you for accepting this, even if you don't like it. It means a lot to know that you'll still be there for me."

"I'll always be there for you. I'm like a bad infection. You can't kick me easily." Teddy smirked back, giving Arizona's hand a squeeze. "Whatever happens, I just want you to be happy. And if Torres can pull her shit together and make that happen…then okay." She shrugged, standing up and leaning down to hug Arizona carefully.

"Thank you for not fighting me on this. It would be really hard to kick your ass with one arm tied to my body." Arizona chuckled at her friend. "Go home to your husband and let him take care of you. Take Karev with you so he can have some family time. Lord knows you two deserve some vacation days now."

"Well, with the shooting and everything, you know the Director is going to force some down time. But I don't think we are going to argue. You need anything, call me, okay?" Teddy insisted, nervous about leaving Arizona on her own with Callie, but knowing she needed to. And really, getting home to see her husband was no hardship.

"You bet," Arizona said before she turned away from Teddy when Callie walked back into the room. She had a fast food sack in her hand and the smell was enough to put a dimpled grin on Arizona's face. "You remembered our deal." She would only eat fast food when she was in the hospital if Callie would get it for her.

"How could I forget?" Callie smiled softly, feeling a slight flutter in her heart that she hadn't felt in years. "I wasn't sure what you were in the mood for, so I grabbed a couple burgers and a chicken wrap. I figured we could split them. Oh, and fries and onion rings, too," she said, feeling an odd mix of shy and nervous. "But I can just leave the food and come back in a bit if you two are still talking…" She trailed off nervously, not really sure what the protocol between them was now.

"I think we're done here. Teddy and Alex are going to fly back and then you and I will fly back when I get out of the hospital. If you don't mind staying with me," Arizona said. She hoped Callie would stay with her, that she would be the person who held her hand when she slept. "I mean, if you want to go back with them, you're free to. It's not an order or anything," she added quickly, not wanting Callie to stay if she didn't want to.

"No, no, I'll stay. I'd love to stay," Callie said quickly, smiling a little more. "Really, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," she said as she moved over to Arizona's bedside, setting the food down on the rolling tray. "Um…I've got an extra burger if you wanted to stay…" she offered to Teddy, not really wanting her to stick around, but trying to make a peace offering.

"I would love to, but no. I need to get back and pack. Alex and I will grab something." Teddy gave Arizona another careful hug before leaving. She really didn't want to be around Callie any more than she was forced to be. She still wasn't sure she knew just how she felt about her even with all the new information she had.

"So…she didn't shoot to kill. I'm guessing our ceasefire is still good then?" Callie laughed a little nervously once Teddy was gone, pulling the food from the bag and moving to set it up on Arizona's tray.

"She's just protective of me." Arizona explained, wishing that her best friend and Callie could get along better. "Once you and I are on solid ground again and everything is worked over, I'm sure she won't wish you death every night." She reached for the burger, not wasting any time in taking a bite.

"Easy, not too fast," Callie cautioned, grabbing a package of onion rings and starting to munch away. "I get it. I get that she's protective. And I'm glad. You deserve people protecting you," she said softly, sliding a strawberry milkshake Arizona's way.

"You deserve people who protect you, too." Arizona said softly, wishing she had turned that case down in Texas. If she were there that night, if she had gone with Callie or she had forced Callie to take backup…things would have been so different. "I wish I had been able to protect you then. I wish I was around to keep the monsters away for real."

"You are. You did," Callie said quickly, resting her hand on Arizona's leg. "Even at our worst, at my worst, you kept me sane, kept me alive. You always keep the monsters away," she said, her throat tightening up a bit as she gave Arizona's leg a squeeze before turning her gaze away. If only she could have remembered that all those years ago. If only she could have trusted in that fact then.

The fear of flying was linked to control issues, Arizona knew that, and she was the first to admit that she had both. Sitting next to Callie as the plane they were on was taking off, she tried to breathe. Her arm was in a sling to try to keep her shoulder from moving too much, though it was getting better all the time. Soon she would be able to do some PT and get stronger again, though her grip on Callie's hand was plenty strong.

"Just breathe, baby. I'm right here," Callie said soothingly, the term of endearment slipping easily from her lips. That had been happening a lot since the shooting, from both of them, but neither had tried to mention it or question it. "It's not a long flight, not nearly as long as that one we took to Russia for that insane case. It's going to be fine."

"Hmm," Arizona grunted, not saying anything as the plane moved up toward the heavens above them. She really didn't like the idea of flying, but right now she had no other option. Once they were level, she did her best to relax. "I wish I could drink. These pain meds don't give me the same buzz as cheap vodka when I'm flying."

"And cheap vodka doesn't help your temper," Callie snorted, smirking as she remembered a rather intense 'discussion' she had to interrupt once on a domestic flight with her then girlfriend. "I fall asleep for five minutes and you cause anarchy."

"It was not anarchy," Arizona snorted as she rested her head on Callie's shoulder. "I wish I was able to go back there and redo it knowing what I know now. There are so many things that I would do over again. So many things I would change."

"Me too. I've spent the last week trying to figure out what to say…how to say it…and I…I can't come up with the right words. 'I'm sorry' seems so trite, but what else am I left with?" Callie asked, looking down at their joined hands and sighing softly.

"I need to know what happened, Callie. I know it's hard and I'm not going to want to hear it, but I need to know. And I think it might be good for you to admit it." Arizona wished she could be blissfully unaware of what happened, but that had bitten her in the ass the first time around. "And for the record, I am _not_ mad at you for being attacked. I could never feel anything close to mad at you for that. But I am upset that you didn't tell me and that you pushed me away. I'm upset that you took away my choice," she said, wanting that to be very, very clear from the start.

"And I'm sorry I did that. I was trying to protect you, to protect us. I didn't want it to be real," Callie said, pausing to take a breath. "I was a mess. I don't know if I can ever try to explain what it was like, what I was feeling…I just wanted to forget. And if I told you…if I told you, I didn't think I'd ever be able to forget," she said, knowing it was a lame and awkward explanation at best. "But…maybe you're right. Maybe I should try. I owe you that much."

"If you don't want to tell me, if it's too hard for you to tell me, I would be all right with that. I don't want to make this any harder than it needs to be." Arizona shifted over, kissing Callie's jaw softly. "I will hold you and be here when you need to be pulled back. I protect you from the monsters, remember?" she said softly, though the fact she didn't protect Callie from this monster was clearly in the front of her mind.

"I remember," Callie said softly, lifting the seat's arm and shifting closer to Arizona. "Is this okay?" she asked shyly, needing to be as close to Arizona as possible if she stood any chance of getting through this. She didn't want this to be real. She wanted to forget. She never wanted to speak of or acknowledge this ever again. But she knew that it was real. She couldn't forget it, and she had to acknowledge it once and for all.

"This is more than okay." Arizona snuggled against Callie, wanting to be close to her, wanting her to know that she was safe and loved and protected. "I'm right here, Calliope. No one is going to hurt you, not while I'm around." She reached over, kissing Callie's cheek tenderly.

"It hurt. So much," Callie whispered, her voice shakier than she would have liked, but still clear. "And I…I kept thinking about you. About how I had to make it through so I could get back to you, about how loved and special you made me feel." She sniffed a bit, closing her eyes and swallowing hard. "I…I didn't want it to be real. I didn't want to accept it, but…I have to. We shouldn't have any more secrets."

"No more secrets." Arizona hated to hear that it hurt Callie, though she knew that it would have. "I wish like hell I had been there with you. I could have covered your tail and that bastard wouldn't have been able to do anything. I wish I could have really kept your monster away." She shifted her head back to nuzzle Callie's neck.

"Or maybe he would have hurt you, or worse. Knowing you were safe helped me get through it," Callie said, leaning into Arizona's touch. She closed her eyes and took a second to try to marshal her strength for this. "I knocked, announced who I was, and I got no answer, so I tried the door. It was unlocked, so I went in, gun drawn. Next thing I know, I'm getting cracked over the head with a bat. My gun flew out of my hand and he kicked it away as he shut the door. Then he shoved a cloth in my mouth and dragged me further into the apartment. I wanted to fight back. I tried to, but I was too dazed from the blow to the head. He tossed me on the couch and then…" She paused her monotone description, her voice cracking and her heart starting to race again. She could see it all so clearly, like it was happening all over again. She couldn't get him off. Why couldn't she get him off?

"I'm here, Callie. I'm sitting right here," Arizona murmured as she placed a soft kiss on Callie's cheek. This was hell. Hearing Callie talk about how she had been raped while Arizona was on the other side of the country was hell. But Arizona could tell Callie was getting something out of it, that she was finally able to let some of the pain go by admitting what had happened to her. As more and more details spilled from Callie's lips, Arizona wasn't sure how she stayed in her seat. She felt like she was going to be sick from the details. Her good hand was already shaking. "He is dead and you're not. He can't hurt you anymore."

"He didn't think I was going to get up. He took a break and went to get a beer. I just lay there for a few seconds and then…I saw my gun on the floor and then…" Callie stopped, shaking her head as tears burned at her eyes. "Oh, god…he's dead. And I'm not. I survived," she choked out, something in her voice making it sound like she'd never really realized that before.

"Yeah, baby, you survived." Arizona loved seeing the look of hope and realization on Callie's face. For the first time Arizona thought maybe things would really be okay. "Now hear this, Callie. I think you are insanely brave to have lived through all of that and come out on the other side still intact. A lot of people don't come back at all from that. They're never able to function again. I know right now it feels like you're broken and will never be the same again, but honey, you are still the woman I fell in love with. You are still the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. Yes, this is going to take hard work for us to get past, but we can do it. This isn't hopeless and I'm not going to date you out of pity. I'm going to be with you because I love you. I. Love. You." Arizona made sure to say each word with the conviction she felt.

"You do?" Callie whispered, her voice so small it was almost inaudible. The idea that Arizona could love her after hearing what she just did, after knowing that, and after all the hell she put her through was…it was unbelievable really. "You really still love me?" She asked meekly, feeling as much like a little kid needing reassurance as she sounded. She hated being weak, but she was too raw to throw up her usual walls right then. And maybe that was for the best, maybe it was about time she let Arizona see her this raw and broken-down.

"I never stopped loving you, Calliope. Never. Even when I hated you, even when I was crying on Teddy's shoulder. Even when I was swearing at the sky and wishing you would have PMS for the rest of your life, I always loved you. You are the person I still see standing next to me when I think of my future. It doesn't matter how much we pushed each other away, you've always been it for me," Arizona said with conviction and passion, wishing that it was a little more eloquent, but she still was a little doped up from her pain meds.

"Dork," Callie snorted, face softening with a small smile and a little laughter filling her eyes. "I love you, too. That's part of what hurt so much and made me so angry all the time. I loved you and you were right there, but I just…I couldn't feel it. I couldn't show you I loved you or let you show me. It was infuriating and I took that out on you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for…for everything I did to hurt you, for keeping this from you. But I never stopped loving you either and I don't think I ever will. I still dream about that future too," she said softly, resting her head on Arizona's good shoulder.

"We have a future, Calliope. But we both have to get well again. Maybe you should take a leave from the team and just work on getting past this. I want you to be on firm ground before we give it a real try again. I don't want us to try to build on quicksand. It wouldn't work and it would just make things harder in the long run." She knew that Callie had a long process of healing in front of her. She didn't want to push the pressure of a relationship on her until that was settled.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Callie said with a weak smile, snuggling even closer to Arizona. "I think time off would be good, too. This last case…I wasn't in any real shape to work and if it had been anyone else, you would have pulled me. I can't put you or the team or anyone else at risk like that. And…I think I need to leave. Like leave the city and everything and get away for a bit," she blurted out, throwing it out there like the live grenade it was.

"I figured you would end up going back to Boston. I know that's where you go when you want to feel like you're home again. Though that should be Miami. But when were you ever typical?" Arizona gave a weak smile. The thought of Callie being on the other side of the country scared her, but if it helped heal her she couldn't complain.

"I was thinking Boston, too. I don't have any recent baggage there, other than our stuff, but since that's part of what I'm trying to work through, I think it'll be okay. Miami…without my dad there, it isn't home," Callie said sadly, swallowing back a lump in her throat. "I won't bolt right away. I'll wait until you're settled and this last case is cleared. And I'll give you my number. Well, you have my cell anyway, but I want you to know I'm only a phone call away. This isn't me running," she said, needing Arizona to know that, to really, truly know it. "And who knows, one day maybe we can go back together. I really hope we can anyway. That house has been too empty these last few years," she added, wondering if Arizona would pick up on her remark, vague as it was.

Whatever Arizona was going to say died as they started their descent. The idea of talking when the plane was going down to earth was just not happening. She was too worried about trying to breathe than doing anything else. Holding Callie's hand tightly, she closed her eyes and just breathed in and out.

"That table has been pretty empty all covered up in cloth. And your library is almost the same as you left it, minus the books you took, of course. There's no bed in the bedroom and definitely no one sleeping in it," Callie said, knowing Arizona was only half hearing her. "It's our house and it always will be. I couldn't let it go. The buyer was really me through my banker. The place has been empty and locked up ever since."

"Did you just say that you still own our house?" Arizona asked about fifteen seconds after the plane landed, just long enough for her to realize they'd landed safely and didn't crash. She wanted to make sure she'd heard Callie right and it wasn't just her hearing what she wanted to hear. "Because if you did then it's going to be really hard for me not to invite you back to my place to do things we have no business doing yet."

"And it's going to really hard for me to say no if you crack and make that invite. But yes, I did say that I still own our house. And as soon as you put your name back on the deed then you'll own it with me again," Callie said, smiling widely, glad she seemed to have done one thing right.

"Letting go of you, even if I know you're going back to our house, is going to suck." Arizona didn't stand up until the plane was at a total stop. She really didn't like knowing she wouldn't be there for Callie to cuddle up to at night, or to cook meals for, or to read to. "But knowing you are in our house makes me happier than I would be otherwise."

"I'm glad that helps," Callie said, taking Arizona's hand as she, too, got up and they started to leave the plane. "The house is going to need some work, a lot of cleaning and dusting and some minor repairs. That should help keep me busy so I'm not always in my head," she said, chewing on her bottom lip as she thought over a request she wasn't sure she could make.

"Since you have all the time in the world now, you can finally paint the rooms the colors we talked about." Arizona walked up the ramp with Callie, her heart skipping a beat over the topic. "I still have the paint samples in my files. I didn't have the heart to toss them out."

"I'd love that. Maybe I can get that hot tub up and running again, too. we never got around to that after that storm killed it," Callie said, in awe that this was what they were talking about, that this was where they were. "You give me that list you were always threatening to make before I leave so I can get it all done before you see the place again."

"I will make you a honey-do list right away, honey." Arizona grinned as she picked her bag up a little higher on her shoulder as they moved toward the parking lot. "So, we're heading to the parking lot," she said, trying to see if Callie had a plan for what came next.

"We are…" Callie said, fidgeting with the strap of her bag. "And I…um…I don't know…I mean... I'm not sure I trust myself to be at either of our apartments. Alone. So maybe this should be goodbye? For now, anyway," she said, swallowing hard and looking anywhere but at Arizona. She didn't want this to be any sort of goodbye, even a temporary one, but she knew if they go back to either of their apartments emotions were going to win out over logic.

"I don't want to rush to have sex just because we can. You mean more to me than a quickie in your apartment. Besides, my good hand is connected to a bad shoulder. I don't know how good it would be even if we did try." Arizona attempted a bit of a joke. She wanted this to be less awkward, though she wasn't sure it could be more so. "That was lame, I know, I just…"

"I know." Callie smiled softly, taking Arizona good hand in hers shyly. "I could drive you home then, since I know Teddy already took care of getting your car out of here. We could order pizza and talk a little more about safe stuff like the house," she suggested, her desire not to part ways just yet winning out in the end. "Or not. I mean, you're probably tired and want to get some time to yourself."

"Drive me home. We have a lot to talk about," Arizona said softly as she gave Callie's hand a squeeze. She knew controlling herself was going to be really hard, but she'd just have to manage. Her future with Callie depended on them waiting for the right moment before really starting things up again. They couldn't afford another landmine.


	8. Chapter 8

Warning - Mention of rape and talk about the subject of rape.

Thanks Anna!

* * *

Nervously, Callie let out an unsteady breath and forced herself to hit send on her phone, closing her eyes as she did. She'd been on leave from the FBI and her BAU team for three months and she'd spent those three months in Boston trying to get her shit together. It hadn't been easy, but she was finally feeling like she'd made some progress. Enough progress that she felt ready to call Arizona up and ask her if she'd come out.

"Robbins," Arizona answered the phone.

"Hi," Callie said softly, her voice a tiny bit shaky. She'd been in contact with Arizona since she left, but only an odd e-mail here and there to let her know she was still alive and still interested. She hadn't heard her voice in three brutal months. "Hi, it's…uh…it's Callie," she said, clearing her throat.

"Calliope." Arizona sat up straighter in her chair, pushing the files away from her. "You have no idea how great it is the hear your voice again." She had always loved getting Callie's e-mails; knowing that she was really all right, or getting there, made her really happy. "You sound good, baby, really good."

"Thanks. It's really freaking great to hear your voice, too," Callie said, smiling widely both just at hearing Arizona and at hearing her call her by her full name and call her 'baby.' She didn't think things had changed between them, but it was still good to get that instant affirmation. "How are you doing?" she asked, fidgeting with the papers on her coffee table.

"Right now, I'm working on a few profiles for some cops in Miami." Arizona couldn't help but think of Callie when she thought of that sun-drenched city. "Work is going really well. The team just got back from a conference in London. I had to give a presentation." She didn't mention her personal life, mostly because there wasn't much to tell.

"Yeah? Sounds good. I'm sure you rocked it. The team's doing well then? Holding it together without me?" Callie asked, wondering if Arizona had been up to much else besides work, but not sure how to ask. She wasn't sure why this conversation was so much harder than it should have been.

"I'm not really sure how much longer the team is going to be together. Teddy just found out she's pregnant and Alex was offered to head a team out of Baltimore. Oh, and Cristina and Owen are moving somewhere. She won't tell us where. I'm going to have to move offices or build a new team here." Arizona hated that just after they really got their game on, things were falling apart.

"Oh…uh…well, that sucks. I know how much you were liking the way things were going. But at least you still get a team, right?" Callie said, mustering her courage. It was now or never. "You could come here," she blurted out. "I mean…um…I'd really like it if you came out here for visit. And I'm thinking about making the move here permanent, so if you liked it here still, it's good timing for you, too," she finished, holding her breath as she waited for a response.

"I think you and I have a lot to talk about before I move offices and move back in. There are three years of crap to sort at least; maybe the seven before that, too," Arizona said, hating that she had to be so responsible when all she wanted to do was scream out yes and jump on the first flight to Boston. She knew she had to take her time on this though, even if it was something she really just wanted to say yes to.

"Oh, definitely." Callie laughed ruefully. "Trust me, we have years of crap to talk out if my therapy is any gauge. I just…I'm in a really good place now, way better than before. It's not perfect, but it's…better." She sighed softly, feeling happy to be able to give Arizona good news for once. "I'm terrified, but I want us to talk. I was hoping you'd come out here so we could do that in person without work getting in the way. I know it's a lot, asking you to take time off and fly out here."

"I have my two weeks off in a week and a half. Maybe I could fly out then and see you." Arizona had been planning to go see her parents, but right now, the most important person not related to her was asking for her. She couldn't turn that down. "I could see the house again, too. I'd really like that."

"I hope so. I've been putting a ton of time into it, pretty much all my time when I'm not in therapy, and it's looking loads better. I only have a little bit of painting left, but I'll have that done before you get here. And the hot tub is up and running. That wobbly step is fixed…there's so much fixed up. You'll love it," Callie said excitedly, over the moon that Arizona was interested in coming out. She knew it was a lot to ask, but she just really needed them to do this there, to fix things where she broke them in the first place.

"I'll e-mail you when I have all my flight info." Arizona was nervous about all of this, knowing that if they couldn't make it work this time, it wouldn't matter how much they wanted it to, it was never going to work. "I really hope you're ready for this, baby. This is four and goal. We don't get it on this try, we're out of chances."

"I'm ready," Callie said confidently. "I wanted to call you last month, but Dr. Warner said I wasn't ready. She was right. We talked yesterday, though, and she thinks I'm ready now, thinks I need to do this and face all of our stuff if I'm going to keep getting better. I'm ready, I promise."

"If you say you're ready then I am, too." Arizona wished she could know if this was the right step, but she didn't have a crystal ball in front of her. "I should go now. I have a briefing for a case. I will e-mail you tonight with the flight info, all right?"

"Yeah, that's perfect, whenever you have time," Callie said quickly. "Go get back to work. I should have waited until tonight to call you anyway, but I was too nervous. I'll talk to you soon. Have a great day, baby," she said, smile still glued to her face.

"I love you, Calliope. Just remember that," Arizona whispered into the phone. She wasn't sure she should have said it, but she knew she felt it. Why not say it?

"I love you too, Mariposa," Callie whispered back, her heart lurching almost painfully in her chest even as it started to hammer faster with joy. It felt so good to hear and say those words again. "Go get on that case and catch the bastard. I'll talk to you soon."

Getting off the plane was the best part of flying in Arizona's opinion, and flying alone only made that even truer. It meant that the plane didn't crash and that she was still alive. Walking down the hall of the terminal she gripped her carry-on's handle a little bit tighter, anxious for her reunion with Calliope. She wasn't sure just how seeing Callie was going to go, her mind having played out a million and one different scenarios ever since Callie called her. Part of her wondered if her heart wouldn't explode on sight.

Callie bounced in place, her body practically vibrating with energy as she waited for Arizona's arrival. She got up early to do her hair and make sure she'd look nice, and to look over the already immaculate house one more time. She wasn't sure any of that mattered, but she felt like it did. Then she got to the airport a solid hour early, terrified of missing Arizona somehow, and now she had just been…waiting. She hated waiting. But she'd wait for Arizona forever if that was what it took.

"You are a highly decorated federal agent who's been shot multiple times. You can do this," Arizona muttered to herself as she stepped onto the escalator that would take her down to where the new arrivals exit was located. She kind of hated that she needed to give herself a pep talk, but if that was what it took to keep from panicking, then so be it. As she descended, she looked around for Callie, a wide grin appearing on her face when she saw the object of her thoughts, worries, hopes and pretty much everything else sitting in a chair by the baggage claim. Even from here she could see her fidgeting and her leg shaking rapidly, all signs that her former girlfriend was very nervous. It was kind of cute to see just how nervous she was, though Arizona knew she wasn't much calmer. Stepping off the escalator she walked over, sneaking up on Callie since she was looking at the wrong escalator. "Hello, Callie. You look great."

"Arizona!" Callie cried, jumping to her feet as she whirled around to face the woman who had been the source of so much joy and pain. Before she knew what she was doing, she was flinging her arms around the blonde and hugging her tight. "I missed you so much," she whispered, clinging to Arizona and breathing her in.

"Oof," Arizona grunted softly, letting go of her carry-on as her arms wraped tightly around Callie. "I missed you so damn much," she whispered, nuzzling Callie's neck as the two fought to stay in control of their emotions. "I'm really glad you called. I'm not sure I would have made it much longer without seeing you," she admitted, stepping back after a few blissful moments but still keeping her hands on Callie, needing the contact.

"I'm really glad I called, too. It was so hard not being able to. Not being able to get better faster was so frustrating." Callie sighed, drinking in the sight before her. Arizona looked tired and like she'd lost a bit of weight, probably working too hard and living in her office again, but she looked good. So damn good.

"Let's grab my bag and head to the house. I really want to see it, see the place where I fell in love with you a million times." Arizona smiled, not taking her eyes off of the woman in front of her. She had always said the best thing they did together was buy that house. It was like their child, a perfect blend of them. "I want to see all of your hard work."

"If we hurry, we should beat rush hour, too." Callie smiled, her hand finding Arizona's automatically as they walked through the airport. "I went shopping yesterday, too, so the place is all stocked with food, plus some wine. I even found your favorite white," she said happily as they wove through the crowd. Her nerves had faded to the background, overwhelmed by the sheer joy of seeing Arizona again.

"Oh, good. The last thing I want to do is sit in traffic for hours after being stuck on a plane. Although the company would be pretty awesome." Arizona smiled as they worked their way through the throng of people. The pattern of small talk they fell into was just what Arizona needed. It was light and mostly superficial, but with just enough depth to it to make it mean a little something. "I was hoping that you would be cooking for us tonight. Am I right?" She asked hopefully. She had missed so many things about Callie, but she might have missed her cooking more than almost anything else.

"I plan on cooking every meal possible while you're here," Callie promised with a grin, glad to have someone else to cook for. "I picked up bananas and chocolate chips special for tomorrow so I can make your favorite breakfast," she said, realizing too late what that might imply. "Um…or I could do that for dinner tonight. Whatever works," she added quickly, making a bit of a face. Arizona just got here and she was already talking about cooking them breakfast? Way to take it slow, Torres.

"I am staying with you at our home, Calliope. You telling me that we're going to have breakfast together doesn't scare me. I'm not scared of whatever happens this trip. I'm sure this time," Arizona assured her, picking up on Callie's hesitation. Seeing her bag she moved to grab it, brushing off Callie's offer to carry it for her. She did make sure she kept a hand free to hold Callie's, though.

"I know, sorry. I just…I'm nervous, you know? I want this to go right so badly." Callie sighed, shaking her head softly as Arizona spotted her bag and quickly retrieved it. "Okay, so pancakes for breakfast tomorrow then and chicken picatta for tonight like I was planning." She nodded decisively as they headed for her car. Luckily she was able to park close so they only had to dodge a few crazy drivers and taxi cabs that seemed bent on running them over. "So how's Teddy doing? You said she was pregnant. How's she taking that?" she asked once they were at her car and stowing Arizona's luggage in the trunk.

"She put in a formal request to become a teacher at the academy. She's going to be teaching the agents how to be as badass as she is for a while," Arizona replied as she retook Callie's hand once they were in the car. "I think it's for the best. She and Henry are so happy about this baby. They would never get over it if something happened."

"Who could? That's not an easy thing to handle. Plus you would be crazy stressed if you knew she was out in the field. She'll do great as a teacher, and if she wants back in the field down the road, she can opt to do that." Callie nodded, eyes glued to the road as she drove.

"Have you talked to the Boston office about working there once you've off leave?" Arizona asked curiously, trying not to sound too much like she was playing 20 Questions. "You're a great agent. I couldn't think of an office turning you down."

"Um…not quite yet. I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to work after…well, everything. And not just that last case, either. Dr. Warner wants me to do some exercises and crap with her next week and on my own, try to figure out what I want," Callie said, licking her lips nervously and shrugging a bit. She wasn't ready to tell Arizona she was thinking about quitting the Bureau. Hell, she almost wasn't ready to admit it to herself.

"You're one of the best agents I've ever met. I can't wait to come to Boston and work with you again. I've missed working with you so much, I thought about quitting, but that's not the answer," Arizona said as she looked out the window, smiling as the streets started to become less crowded and more suburban. She never thought she'd wanted to settle down in a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence and all that, but then she met Callie and her whole world was turned upside down. The woman seemed to have a knack for doing that, come to think of it.

"You'll get in here no problem with credentials like yours. They'll be tripping over themselves to have you on board and to have a BAU team of their own," Callie said, changing the topic slightly as she steered them off of the highway and into the outskirts of Boston.

"I'll be happy as long as you're my number two. I wouldn't want to have a team without you as a part of it." Arizona leaned over, boldly giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I became what I became because of you. I couldn't keep going without you riding shotgun, baby."

"Yeah." Callie smiled, forcing it a little. Though when Arizona kissed her the smile became a whole lot more genuine and a light blush rose to her cheeks. "It's really good to hear you say that. It means a lot," she said, and it was true, too. It would be the perfect thing to hear if not for her worries about going back to work and whether or not she ever would. "So, I was thinking we could have dinner before we start really talking. That'll give you some time to see the house and get settled in."

"That sounds great. I don't really do much talking when I'm eating your food anyway. I'm always too blissed out." Arizona laughed, lifting up their joined hands and kissing the back of Callie's. "I really have missed you, baby. I'm just not the same person unless I have you in my life. I even tried to go on a date, and it was horrible."

"Uh…you…uh…what?" Callie croaked out, her grip on the wheel tightening almost imperceptibly even if her voice completely gave her away. She could have sworn Arizona had said she tried going on a date. As in…a date. With another person. Who wasn't her.

"Teddy set me up on a blind date. I didn't want to go at all, such a waste of a night off, but it was before I really knew you were getting help. She said that if you didn't get better or come back, I needed to move on. So I went and I had the worst date of my life. She was a nice enough person, but she was still in the closet. She had no idea what it was like to be with a woman or even have dinner with one," Arizona explained, realizing she maybe hadn't brought this up in the best way.

"So she was me when we first met? Minus the closet." Callie smirked weakly, trying to joke so she could keep breathing. Part of her really, really wanted to go hop on a plane to San Francisco and kick this woman's ass, and Teddy's for that matter, but she knew that wouldn't be fair. "I told you I was getting help, though. When I left I told you that was why I was leaving. Did you not believe me?" she asked quietly. She understood why Teddy wouldn't believe her, but she really thought that Arizona had.

"I believed you were going to go get help, to get better, but Teddy didn't believe that at all. She thought that you were going to just fade away and leave me. I only went on the date to shut her up. I figured if I went out on a really bad date, I could use that to stop her making me go out on any more. I didn't even give that girl a good night kiss, I promise, no matter how much she kept trying to get me to give her one. I swear I believed you, I was just sick of defending myself to Teddy and dealing with her looks and crap," Arizona rushed to explain. She really wanted to start this trip off on the right foot, which meant not kicking it off with a fight.

"Oh, okay." Callie nodded, still struggling with her conflicting emotions. She knew she didn't have the right to get upset and it wasn't worth getting upset over anyway, but the less rational side of her brain didn't quite feel the same way. "All right. Thank you for telling me and making sure it wouldn't be a surprise if I found out from Teddy later," she said calmly after a minute or two. Huh, maybe therapy was good for something.

"I didn't feel anything for her. I was way too busy feeling a whole bunch of things for you." Arizona smiled softly, wishing she were able to give Callie more of a reassurance. "And I haven't slept with anyone at all. I mean, except Mr. Rabbit. But I'm pretty sure you've done the same thing with his brother." sShe said with a tentative laugh. She hoped a little bit of teasing would make this all easier for her.

"It's okay, really," Callie insisted, glancing at Arizona. "We aren't technically together and we haven't been for a long time. I have nothing to be upset about and you're being honest with me. It's fine," she promised as she turned onto the last street before reaching their house.

"Oh…uh…okay. Yeah, right." Arizona smiled in surprise and relief, glad they weren't going to have a knock-down, drag-out fight over this like they would have in the past. She was about to say more but then the house she hadn't seen in so long came into view and she needed a minute to take it in. It looked as wonderful as Arizona had been hoping it would, with paint that was bright but not too perky and a lawn and shrubs that were lush and green. "You did an amazing job making this place into our home," she finally managed as she fought a tear back while Callie put the car into park.

"Yeah? You like it?" Callie asked anxiously, biting her bottom lip as she watched Arizona's reaction. "I got the paint samples and to-do list you sent and I tried to get everything just right. I really wanted you to feel at home once you got here," she said, slipping the keys from the ignition and taking Arizona's hand in hers.

"It's even better than I dreamed that it could be. The last three years I have dreamed of this home and this street and us pulling in the drive together. I have dreamed of this for so long, Callie. And now that I'm in the driveway of this home on this street with you…it's so much better," Arizona said as she turned to Callie, using both of her hands to hold Callie's face. "I never want to go out on another date with a girl who isn't you."

"You'll never have to if I have anything to say about it," Callie promised softly, knowing she couldn't really promise forever, not yet anyway, but wanting to come as close as she could. "Can I kiss you? I know we still need to talk, but…I just…I…"

Arizona didn't give an answer verbally; she didn't need to. Instead she leaned in to do what she'd been wanting to do since the second she saw Callie in the airport, since far before that if she was being honest. Once their lips touched, it didn't matter what was left to be said or what still needed to be decided. All that mattered was that for a second they were finally at peace with years of hurt they had caused each other.


	9. Chapter 9

Warning - Mention of rape and talk about the subject of rape.

Thanks Anna!

* * *

"Mmm…" Callie moaned softly, resting her forehead against Arizona's when they finally parted. "How about we get inside and I give you a tour of the place? I think you'll like the inside just as much," she said softly, hands caressing the sides of Arizona's neck.

"I would love that, really love that." Arizona smiled softly. She couldn't believe how much that kiss made her feel alive. She was tingling all over, her heart rate was up, and her breathing was elevated and it wasn't even that heavy duty of a kiss. "Come on, let's get inside before we break in the backseat of this car like we did my old Mustang."

"Jesus," Callie groaned, abruptly letting go of Arizona and scrambling to open her door before she took Arizona up on that idea. She prides herself on her self-control, but she can only take so much. "So…um…how about you just dump your bags by the front door and we can deal with them later?" She suggested, moving around to the trunk and pulling them out.

"Not sure what bedroom to put me in yet?" Arizona asked even if she knew that saying things like that could get both of them in trouble. But it had been far too long since she'd had the freedom to flirt with Callie so she wasn't going to let this pass her by. "Pretty sure I have my eye on the one on the third floor."

"Pretty sure I do, too." Callie smirked a bit as she carried Arizona's stuff up to the front door. "But…uh…I just wasn't sure…I mean, we have some intense stuff to handle and we don't know how it will go. And I know how you like your space when you're pissed at me." she said honestly as she let them into the house, stepping aside so Arizona could get a good look.

"The last thing I want is space from you. We've already had more then enough time apart." Arizona said firmly before following Callie inside and starting to look around. The first floor was really all one big living space, kitchen, living room, dining room. All open for the eye to take in at once. Though Arizona's favorite room, her library, was on the second floor, one she couldn't wait to see again. "I think you have done amazing work making this place what we always dreamed of.

"I finally got the fireplace working. That was a bitch. And I got us a new couch. It's really comfy so I hope you like it, and I think it goes with the color scheme or whatever. You know I've never been great at that." Callie laughed, following Arizona as she looked around on her way to the stairs.

"It's about time. I think we've had that couch since we were in the academy together." Arizona laughed as she thought about the old beat up couch that had survived so many moves. After spending an appropriate amount of time looking downstairs, she tried not to race up the stairs to the first room on the left. Slowly opening the door she felt like she was a kid on Christmas, complete with giddy butterflies and sweaty palms. "Oh my god," she whispered as she took in the room. It was full of old leather furniture and maps, cigar boxes, books and memorabilia from her career filling the wooden floor to ceiling shelves. On the far side facing the large window was a big oak desk that looked like it was out of an old English movie. It was just like the one her grandfather had, the one she told Callie about when she found a photo of it.

"You like it?" Callie asked nervously. "I know we never talked about this, but I always wanted to take the time to do it for you and now seemed as good a time as any. I dug up that old photo and did the best I could. It's all real leather and real wood, too. Oak, actually."

"It looks just like the photo does. I mean down to all of the details, the wood, the leather, the fireplace. It is just like Papa's office." Arizona ran her fingers over the desk, lingering on the ornate carving details along the edge. Breathing in the scent of the room made her smile. "I can't believe that you put this much work into it."

"I had nothing but time on my hands and it helped me think. It gave me something to focus on and keep my thoughts organized." Callie shrugged, brushing off the praise. "I got you some new books, but just these few. I figured you had your own wish list you'd want to fill it with. Same goes for the plaques and stuff from your work. I just used what was around here in boxes, but I left room if you have other stuff you want to add." she said, gesturing to the shelves as she smiled at Arizona. Arizona looked so happy, and the fact that she had a part in that made her happy and content like she hadn't been in years.

"Calliope, this is an original Gone With The Wind. There are only a small number of these." Arizona gasped as she made her way over to the shelf closest to her. Slipping the book off of the shelf she opened it, brushing her fingers over the signature inside of it.

"You always said that was your favorite book. I wanted you to have something special. You deserve it," Callie said, walking the rest of the way into the room and over to Arizona. "And don't worry. I made sure it was authentic and I had it insured and everything."

"It's amazing." Arizona whispered, carefully sliding the book back into place. She wasn't sure just what to say to Callie to make her understand just how much this meant to her. "I don't think I've even been given a gift like this before." She said as she turned around and wrapped her arms around Callie's waist, tugging her close. "You're really amazing. Did you know that?"

"I'm starting to remember that," Callie said softly, returning Arizona's embrace. "How about I leave you up here to keep looking around while I start dinner? You can come down whenever you want and I'll have some wine waiting?" She suggested after a good five minutes of just hugging in silence.

Arizona rested her head on Callie's shoulder, breathing in the scent of the perfume that she had gotten her years ago. "I would like that, a lot I think." Placing a delicate kiss on Callie's neck, Arizona slowly pulled away. "I love this. Thank you so much for doing it."

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do." Callie smiled softly, reluctantly pulling away. "I'll just be down in the kitchen. Holler if you need anything," she said, smiling as she backed away and forced herself to slip out of the room. Once in the hall, she had to refrain from dropping to her knees in a mix of relief and joy. One of the things she worked on in therapy was that saying she was sorry or wanted things to be different wasn't enough. She had to show Arizona, to prove it. This was part of that.

Arizona didn't want to leave her study to go down to dinner, it was just tpp perfect for her, but she knew it would be rude not to go down. Plus she did really, really want to eat Callie's cooking again. As she walked down the steps her nose was assaulted by a mix of some of the most wonderful scents that it had come into contact with in a long time. "You really are the best cook I know." She walked up behind Callie, wrapping her arms around her waist. It felt right to be hugging Callie in this home, in Boston. It felt like the old times again.

"Hey!" Callie squeaks in surprise, not having heard Arizona come downstairs since she was so lost in thought. Damn, her training must really be slipping. Standing here cooking dinner while Arizona was just upstairs probably reading or looking through her books was surreal in the best way. "Great timing, I was just about to come get you and tell you it's ready."

"I haven't smelled something so wonderful since you cooked for me last time." Arizona placed a kiss on Callie's shoulder before taking everything off the island and setting the table for them. "You really are my own personal Iron Chef. I can't believe you made all of this for us; pulled pork, homemade mashed potatoes, sour coleslaw, honey rolls, it's all of my favorites." She loved this meal maybe more than any of Callie's other tricks.

"I don't know about that, but I try. Turns out I was so excited about you getting here that I forgot to get chicken so I couldn't make chicken picatta. I figured I'd whip this up instead. Callie smirked as she brought the last dish from the stove and set it on the table before taking a seat next to Arizona. "How would you feel about that? About having me around as your personal chef I mean?" She asked, subtly trying to feel things out.

"You mean, how do I feel about us living together again? The idea makes me happier than I have been in 3 plus years. I haven't been able to get used to living by myself, even after all of this time. I guess I haven't ever really thought of myself as single either. I used to got out to places and I would ask for a table for two before I remembered you weren't joining me." Arizona poured herself a glass of wine before putting some of everything on the plate. "Somehow in the back of my mind I always though you'd show up."

"I never really got used to it either. I just tried to throw myself into work and numb it all away. Not the healthiest plan." Callie shrugs with a wistful smile as she too fills her plate. "But…I…um…I meant how would you feel if I was always home, if I didn't work cases anymore? I'm not saying I'm quitting. I'm just reassessing everything in my life, including work, and I'm wondering if it's the best fit for me," Callie said, nervously gulping her wine. She wasn't sure she wanted to get into this off the bat, but it seemed like a good opening. And it had to happen sooner or later.

"How would I feel if the best agent I ever worked with quit? I would hate it with every fiber of my being. I would hate to go to work everyday and come home and not be able to talk about it anymore. I would hate to not be able to go in with my gun drawn and know you have my back. I would hate it, Calliope. But I can't say that I wouldn't understand it." Arizona knew that there was a shot Callie would never come back, but she thought it would be the FBI telling Callie she couldn't come back, not the other way around. "You went though something I can't even start to understand. You went though hell and came out the other side or at least you're on your way there. I can respect taking a break from working cases as long as you're not just quitting."

"Oh. Um…yeah…ok…" Callie muttered, poking at her food and trying really hard not to throw up walls and shut down. Therapy or not, old survival mechanisms die hard. She's not really sure what response she expected, it did kind of come out of left field after all, but somehow that wasn't it. "I don't know if a break is all I need though. I'm just not sure I can do it anymore. No…that's not true. I know I can do it. I'm just not sure I should. I'm not sure it's what's best for me and my recovery, or what's best for us," she said, letting out a heavy breath.

"Why don't you want be one of us anymore?" Arizona asked, forcing the part of herself that wanted to yell and to scream about wasted talent to stay quiet. She couldn't do that to Callie. "There are other departments that aren't part of the BAU baby, other units that you could join. You could do white collar crimes or police investigations, internet crimes. You don't have to be in my unit to be an agent." She knew it selfish, but she really wasn't sure how to react to this. Was Callie just having a freak out that she needed to have a firm hand to help stop? Or was this really the end of Callie as an FBI agent? Callie was as into their work as anyone else she had ever met.

"It's a lot of stuff, some of which I get and some of which I just…feel and try to sort out later." Callie sighs, setting down her fork. "Part is the…is what happened and how that affects me, especially when I'm stressed or it's a case involving rape. I live with what happened every second of every day and when I'm stressed that gets a lot harder. And part of it is how it used to affect us. Both of us in the same unit, or similar units, working crazy cases and crazy hours, all that stress and frustration and even anger...It made coming home and leaving it all that at work really hard. It made communicating healthily really hard, too. We never really managed to draw the right lines between work and home, personal and private, and I'm not sure we even can if we're both agents."

"We were happy before you got attacked, weren't we? We were living in this house and working together and we were happy. I was happy then. At least I think I was." Arizona said, something in her tone partly questioning the memories that she had about that time. "How can you not want that crazy, awesome, heart pumping time back? How can you not want to draw your gun and go in, bullets flying and heart racing? How can you not want to spend 5 days in a room full of clues and feel that rush when you finally figure it all out? Callie I'm not judging you, I swear I'm not, I just don't understand not wanting to be an agent anymore. I don't understand how you of all people can turn that off."

"I'm not sure I can. I haven't decided anything for sure yet, I'm just really thinking about all my options here and I want you to know that." Callie clarifies as she toys with her fork. "And as for what was wrong, nothing was wrong exactly. I mean obviously loads was wrong, look where we ended up, but lots was right, too. We were happy. I was happy," She promises earnestly. "But happy or not we still fought more than was healthy and we sucked at forgiving each other. We hardly talked about the things that mattered and we weren't great at listening. Our jobs are insanely stressful and with both of us doing the same thing, there was no one around to balance that out or calm us down." She said, trying to explain where she was coming from.

"I don't know what to say about all of this. I really don't know what to say." Arizona sighs, leaning back in her chair as she rested her hands on her lap. She wanted to get up and walk over to the front of the house to look out the big picture window. She used to do that during every fight they had here, working to get a game plan of how to win the fight. Right now winning was not on her mind so much as trying not to get into a real fight. "On one hand if I support you and you don't go back you could wind up hating me for not pushing you to go back. On the other hand if I push you to go back and it doesn't work I'm the bad guy. My gut says go back but for the first time in a really long time I don't trust it."

"Just love me and support me, that's the right thing to do. And I can tell you're trying to figure out what the right thing to do is." Callie said with a slight smirk in her smile as she reaches out for Arizona's hand. Some things never change and she can still read Arizona's face like a book. "Be honest with me about what you think and feel, but in the end just support me and I'll be ok." She says softly, moving her hand closer to Arizona. "I know this is a lot and I didn't even want to tell you, not yet, but I just...I need you to know."

"I can do that." Arizona smiled softly as she closed the last bit of distance to take Callie's hand, holding onto it tightly. "If you didn't come back, what do you think you would do?" She asked, needing to know the plan. There had to be a plan. Arizona needed to know that Callie had some kind of plan and that she was thinking this through. If Callie really didn't want to come back but she had a plan maybe she could go with it.

"Well…" Callie starts before pausing to really think about her answer. If she's 100% brutally honest then she has to admit that she hasn't gotten that far yet. The prospect of not going back was big and scary enough to try and tackle first. Somehow though she doesn't think that's the answer Arizona needs. "I'm not totally sure, it's still a new thing to be thinking about for me. I mean the police force and then the FBI is all I've known for so long that it's a bit like asking an old dog to learn new tricks. I think a little down time at first would be nice. Being able to be more domestic, be home for dinner with you, putt around the house…Doing that would be a nice change of pace. But beyond that I'm toying with the idea of writing or teaching, or maybe doing some advocacy work with victims rights groups."

"I don't like you not being an agent. I really hate it if we're being honest. But if you don't want to do it I'm not going to force you or guilt trip you into it or anything like that. I love you. And loving you means doing the things that you can't do. So I will support you and be there for you and hold you and do all the things a good girlfriend does. Because this is our last shot and damn it I don't miss my last shot." Arizona leaned over to wrap her arms around Callie, the arms of the chairs and the table getting in the way.

"Arizona…" Callie sighs as she returns the awkward hug, trying to shift and get closer and make it less awkward. "I love you too. So much. And we're not missing this chance. We're both right here fighting for it and figuring out how to make it work. I'm not going anywhere."

"Can I say something to you? Something I need to get off my chest?" Arizona asked quietly, pulling back and taking both of Callie's hands in hers. She needed to spill her guts and try to explain to Callie how she felt about all of this. It was something she had been unable to get out of her head since Callie left the west coast and now felt like the time to open up.

"Of course you can." Callie nods, keeping hold of Arizona's hands as she shifts in her chair a bit. She wants to keep eye contact and make sure her body language seems open and inviting. They're all tools that Dr. Wyatt had been helping her with so that she could hopefully listen to Arizona better and not jump to conclusions of get defensive.

"Ok." Arizona murmured, tears in her eyes before she had said a word. "That night you were…raped, I was sitting at a bar with two other agents drinking. I was laughing and drinking while you were being attacked. I was telling them both about this amazing girlfriend I had and how I was going to make her my wife when I got back to Boston. I sat in that bar for hours and told them all about you. How you hate getting up early for Sunday breakfast so we started doing brunch. How you love the sound of me playing my dad's old beat up guitar. How you hate when I leave my dishes in the sink but you wash them for me anyway. How we met. How we feel in love. I told them all of that while you were here being hurt, while I wasn't having your back. All because we weren't partners anymore and it wasn't my job to have your back. I promise I will never not have your back again. I know I shouldn't promise that but I am going to anyway." By the end of her little speech Arizona was crying outright, the tears falling in steams down her cheeks as all her emotions about that night coming out at once.

"Arizona…No, no this is not your fault. None of this is your fault." Callie exclaims, horrified at the very idea that Arizona could possibly think that. "This isn't your fault. It's not my fault. It's not Mark's fault. It's not anyone's fault except for the sick, twisted bastard who did it. You can't protect me from everything, just like I can't protect you from everything, no matter how much we want to and no matter how hard we try," she said gently, knowing how hard that was to accept from experience. "It's not your fault," she insisted again, holding Arizona's hand firmly in hers.

"If I was your partner you wouldn't have gone in alone, you wouldn't have been raped, and you wouldn't be questioning if you should still do the job that no one will ever be able to do as well as you do it. I requested a new partner and got you raped." Arizona looked away from Callie, trying to control the anger she had towards herself over what she saw as her role in all of this. The last thing she wanted to do was spook Callie or, god forbid, make her think she was mad at her. "I thought us working apart would be good for our relationship. I really thought that. And look at what I caused to happen?"

"It is not your fault. If you want to be angry then be angry at that fucking prick who did this not at yourself." Callie insisted firmly, hating to see Arizona beating herself up like this. "You did what you thought was best for us and I can't fault you for that, I never have. I've never blamed you I swear. We both agreed working apart would be best for us, at least for bit. Please don't let him hurt you like this. Don't let him do this to you." she said softly, reaching up to cup Arizona's cheek and wipe away her tears.

"I didn't know what happened to you. I didn't know that you had been so hurt like that. I mean I should have known shouldn't I have?" Arizona looked up into Callie's eyes, trying to make eye contact, something she hated doing but Callie liked. "How could I not have known you were hurting so much? How was I that blind?"

"How could you know?" Callie countered with a shake of her head. "I didn't let you know. I just pushed you away and became angry and bitter. I knew you well enough to know exactly how to hurt you and push you and make you break so…I did. And I hate myself for that. You're not supposed to use what you know about someone you love to hurt them."

"Don't hate yourself for it. Just don't do it again." Arizona stated bluntly as she reached up to brush some of the hair off of Callie's cheek, looking into the chocolate brown eyes that she loved so much. "I love you and I will love you still even if you aren't packing heat. I will love you if you're a taxi driver, a coffee cart girl, a teacher, a preacher, a wood carver. No matter what you are I will love you."

"That's all I need. I don't know what I'm doing or how my life is going to pan out going forward, but I do know that I need you. I need you and your love so much." Callie said softly, leaning into Arizona's hand. "So…we're ok then? At least about that? No more blaming each other?" She chanced after a moment of silence.

"No more blaming each other. I promise." Arizona kissed Callie's nose, giving her a smile that she hadn't been able to in a really long time. "Mind if I change the subject a little bit? Because I have a burning question that has been on my mind since I walked into the house."

"Ask away. God knows we've got a million and one things to discuss." Callie smiled in relief, silently praying that it's an easier topic just to give them a little bit of a break. They have a lot to tackle but if they try and do it all at once she's not sure their battered hearts will survive.

"Who did the wood work for the house? All the oak shelving I see looks hand done, and in my office it's all done by hand too. The carvings on some of the woodwork are breathtaking and I haven't even seen our bed you told me about." Arizona asked curiously. Her grandfather had been a wood worker in his retirement, teaching Arizona a lot about it when she visited.

"Oh…um…It's not all that special." Callie muttered self deprecatingly, shifting a bit in her chair. "I…uh…I did it." She confessed, feeling odd confessing her deep dark secret. Badass cops trying to be FBI agents don't do woodwork, or so she thought, so she let it slide years ago, before they'd even met.

"Callie that is amazing. This isn't a hobby or something you do to take your mind off of things. This is art." Arizona ran the tips of her fingers over the carvings on the table. "You are gifted to be able to make these things out of hunks of wood. Truly you are gifted." She praised softly, taking one of Callie's hands she pressed a kiss to each of her fingers.

"I don't know. I mean it's just something I picked up in high school. You know, one of those extracurriculars to round out your timetable? And…I dunno, I liked it so I took a few classes in my spare time to de-stress." Callie shrugs, looking away. "But I dropped it when I started focusing on becoming an agent and I haven't done anything for years. It's not like it's something I could do for real."

"Are you kidding me?" Arizona asked in disbelief, letting out a rich laugh and trying not to snort. "Calliope if you did this full time, taking orders from people. Honey you would make more than what I do. You are so gifted and sweet, charming and caring. Don't you see that about yourself? Because from where I'm sitting you're the dream girl my 19 year old self wanted."

"I'm nobody's dream, not anymore." Callie mutters, still having a lot of hang ups despite the work she's been doing. "What about now?" She asks softly, not daring to look at Arizona. "Am I the dream your very much not 19 year old self wants now?"

"How about you and I go upstairs and I show you just how much of a dream girl you still are to me?" Arizona asks gently yet still keeping voice full of confidence as she stood up, holding her hand out to Callie. "Pretty sure both of us want to recommit to each other. Over and over again." She said, smirking a little bit. So maybe it's too soon, and maybe they have more to talk about, and maybe nothing is really totally figured out yet, but…too damn bad. They've wasted enough time and she just wants to feel close to Callie again.

"Arizona." Callie half sighed, half groaned. God that woman could push her buttons in the worst way. "How about we eat so you start putting some meat on your bones, you're way too skinny. After that I'm all for heading to bed." She said, not entirely sure how that will go given the fact that she hasn't been to bed with anyone since Arizona and her split.

"I have plenty of meat on my bones. Not all of us know how to cook, Miss Awesome wood crafter." Arizona stuck her tongue out, giving Callie a wink. Sometimes it paid to be playful and funny and a smart ass. That use to be their foreplay, a smartass battle until they couldn't stop from kissing.

"Oh god, you're not going to let me live this down are you?" Callie groaned. "It'll probably only be worse when you see the old shed I was using as my shop for all this work. But hey, you always did say I was good with my hands." She winked back as she goes back to eating, feeling the knot in her gut loosen significantly. Maybe going to bed wouldn't be so scary, not if they could still tease like this.

"I tease you because I am madly in love with you and I need to show you in a way that was acceptable with how I grew up. Teasing each other is the highest form of love to the Robbins Clan." Arizona reminded her, wiping her mouth and taking seconds of the sour coleslaw. "Or don't you remember the first time you met Tim and he nearly had you in tears with his teasing of your middle name?"

"That was not funny. He was being an ass and I'd only just met your family so I didn't think drawing my gun on him would have been appropriate." Callie argues pointedly, shuddering a bit at the memory of that event. "Although I did get him back good." She smirks proudly.

"Putting Nair in his shampoo was fantastic. He always did have a funny shaped head." Arizona smirked, loving that Tim and Callie always gotten along as well as they did. "Dad teased you a few times too. But we broke up before he really hit his stride with teasing you. Let's just hope you don't have to go back to calling him The Colonel again."

"I wouldn't be surprised if I do. He's not a man who likes people easily but he seemed to be warming up to me. He can't be happy at how things went down." Callie says, knowing that the Colonel is likely rather disappointed in her for breaking her promises to him.

"He wanted me to take to my cousin in the immigration department and have you deported back to Cuba. I tried to explain to him a few times both you and your parents were born here, that it was your grandparents who immigrated, but he didn't really care to much for that fact." Arizona snorted, finishing her meal with a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess not." Callie sighs, pushing back her empty plate. "I don't blame him for hating my guts. Not more then a week before the attack and things started to go south I promised him that I would take care of you. He sat me down and asked what my intentions were, it was all very old school. And I told him I loved you and I would always protect you." She smiles fondly at the memory. She was terrified at the time as a young 20 something still wet behind the ears, but it still meant so much to her.

"He told me about that one night when I was over for dinner over the holidays, about how you had lied to him and broke the promise. I told him to lay off hating you even though I was still upset. I told him that I wasn't sure what it was but I knew you had a reason for bailing and turning me down to get married. It took a few years but now I've finally figured out what it was. I know he will have a hard time accepting it, but I think he will accept us as a couple again." Arizona took Callie's hand, giving her a coy smile.

"A couple huh?" Callie smiles softly, taking a shaky breath. "That sounds pretty good. And I'll talk to him and tell him the truth, he deserves that." She adds, giving Arizona's hand a squeeze. She knows she has authority issues that crop up from time to time and that facing down her dad tends to ensure that sure they make an appearance. "But lets go back to us being a couple…Does that mean you think we can make this work?"

"You are the only person in the world I want to make anything work with. I love you. I love this house. I love the life that you and I are going to build here. We can do this couple thing, we just need to get our heads out of our asses and do it." Arizona said with a dimpled grin, too excited to act all that serious at the moment. She always was the perky one when it came to things like this, and damn is she doesn't get to be perky about getting the love of her life back.

"Not that simple, but okay." Callie laughed softly. "I'm going to keep going to therapy and keep working on my stuff, and if you can promise to try and be more honest about what you're feeling then I'll do the same. I think if we do that we have a great chance. Because god knows that all I want is for you and me to be here in this house living our life again."

"In my bag is the ring I gave to you on our third anniversary. I want you to wear it again. It doesn't have to be on your left hand, it doesn't even have to be on your hand. It can be on a chain around your neck. I just want you to have that ring somewhere on you." Arizona gave a hopeful smile, hoping she wasn't moving them too fast.

"Maybe my right hand for now? I want it on my left hand, so much, but I don't want to move too fast. Is that ok?" Callie asked softly, her heart in her throat. That ring was the first piece of jewelry anyone hand ever given her. It meant so much to her for Arizona to give her a ring and she almost never took it off. She frowned worriedly though when Arizona doesn't answer her, instead getting up and going over to her bag.

"This ring has been on my grandfather's chain, with his dog tags, since we broke up. I'm glad I'm finally putting it somewhere I know it's totally safe." Arizona said as she walked back to the table with a ring box in her hands. Smiling at Callie she lifted the ring out of the box. "May I?"

"Please." Callie nods, holding out her right hand to Arizona and smiling softly as she sees the blonde's hands shaking slightly. Arizona's hands never shake when she's facing a perp or working a case or in a fight with some scumbag, but she's seen them shake in moments like this. And she knows no one else ever has.

"Yeah." Arizona whispered, echoing her much more ecstatic response when Callie said yes to this ring the first time years ago. She felt the same flutter in her belly this time as she did years ago when she put this ring on Callie's finger for the first time too. She gave a sigh when she saw the ring was back on Callie, back where it belonged. "I love you Calliope. I honestly and truly love you. For all the crap we've been though and all the fights getting this moment with you took, being her with you now is worth them all."

"Worth it? Hell yes. But if I could change things I would." Callie laughed weakly, looking down at the ring and feeling another piece of her battered heart heal. "I love you so much." She said, lifting Arizona's hand which is still in hers and kissing it softly.

"Let's get the dishes cleaned up so we can get upstairs faster. I know how you hate leaving the kitchen messy." Arizona said with smile. She had missed one of them washing and the other one drying the dishes, as simple and domestic as it is. Standing side by side with Callie after sharing a meal was something she never thought she would like but it had become one of her favorite things.

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good." Callie said with a smile, glad for the slight distraction so she can absorb what she's feeling a little bit. This is something she never ever thought she'd have again. Having Arizona here in their home, talking about how they love each other and want to get back what they had was surreal in the best way.

"Should I put in a formal request to change offices?" Arizona asked about half way though doing the dishes. She had taken up her usual spot drying the dishes while Callie washed them. It felt really good to get into the rhythm they use to have with each other. "You really want me in Boston full time?"

"I want you with me full time. If the team is crashing and burning in San Francisco I don't see much point in either of us being there. And our house is here, I have a hard time seeing us rebuilding anywhere but here." Callie said as she rinsed off another plate, glancing over at Arizona. "Do you want to change offices and be in Boston full time?"

"I want to be where you are." Arizona answered simply. "If you lived on the moon I would find a way to be an FBI agent on the moon. It's pretty much that simple. Call me a fool if you want, fine I'm a fool. But I love you and I need to be with you wherever that might be."

"Well if you're a fool then so am I." Callie smiled, leaning in to kiss Arizona's cheek. "Put in for a transfer then and we'll go from there. If for some reason you can't get it then we'll figure out the next step." She said with a smile still glued to her face, feeling lighter then she has in years. She's home, and soon Arizona's going to be home too.


	10. Chapter 10

Callie checked over her preparations in the master bedroom one last time before heading downstairs. It's nothing too elaborate, just some candles and rose petals along with the lingerie she had on under her clothes, but it's their 6 month anniversary of this new start and she wanted to do a little something. It's been a long 6 months with some rocky patches as they adjusted to being in Boston and living together again, not to mention dealing with all their baggage, but it's been an amazing 6 months too. Glancing at the clock she decided to start on dinner, knowing Arizona would be home soon from the office.

Walking up the driveway Arizona stopped and picked off a rose from one of Callie's bushes, wanting to give Callie a little something extra today. She had thought about stopping for flowers but in the chaos of her day it had totally slipped her mind until she was pulling onto their street. Chaotic or not she had a good day at work, though one case was annoying her a little but there was always something with a job like hers. All in all she could more then handle one little case bugging her with how the rest of her life was going. It wasn't some fairytale full of rainbows and fluffy clouds, but Callie and her were in a very good place if she did say so herself.

"Babe?" Arizona called out after coming though the door. "You home?" She asks, knowing the answer is almost certainly a yes.

"Course I'm home." Callie said with a smile as she walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel draped over her shoulder. She tried not to be too stepfordy and stay at home wife-like since she knew it freaked Arizona out, but being able to meet her at the door is something she definitely enjoyed. "How was your day?" She asked, pulling Arizona into her arms and kissing her softly.

"Really pretty good. We have this one case that we can't figure out but we all decided to take a break for tonight and go in with new eyes tomorrow. I was starting to think I lived in my office." Arizona said with a light laugh, trying to talk about her day without talking too much about the details of any cases. She had really done her best to try to keep things vague with Callie so as not to draw her back into something she didn't want to be a part of anymore. It was hard but she wanted to respect her lover's wishes.

"I'm sure you'll crack it soon." Callie assured her, kissing her again. "You have an admirer I don't know about?" She asked teasingly, eyeing the rose in Arizona's hand that she recognized from the bush out front.

"No silly. I picked this for you." Arizona smiled as she took the rose and tucked it behind Callie's ear, glad she thought to take the thorns off of it outside. "Even more beautiful, if that is even possible." She sighed softly, leaning in for another kiss that didn't stay chaste for very long.

"Mmm…You're so sweet to me." Callie murmurs, arms snaking tight around Arizona's waist. "You…uh…you hungry? Dinner's almost ready." She offered as Arizona nipped at her neck and hit right at that spot she knew always made her knees weak. Damn that made it hard to think. Every freaking time. Arizona kissed her there had settled more then one argument in their relationship.

"Not hungry for dinner." Arizona muttered as her hands moved up and down Callie's back, from her shoulders down to her ass. "I am very hungry for you though." She said boldly. She hated to admit it, but since they had gotten back together this time around their sex life hadn't been that great. Both were scared she knew, but it still sucked. She would always be so worried about showing any aggression or control that things ever really got that far off the ground, and Callie had baggage enough to fill a football stadium so she wouldn't push things either. That was about to change.

"You are huh? Well then…ohh…maybe you should take me to bed?" Callie grinned, very happy at this turn of events. This is the Arizona she remembers, the one who could look at her and make her feel like she was about to be eaten alive, literally, and love it. She had missed this for a while now but didn't know how to bring it up, no wanting to make Arizona feel in adequate in some way.

"Done." Arizona smirks broadly, bending down and picking Callie up in her arms. It took a little bit of effort but she got Callie upstairs in one piece. Funny, she doesn't remembering it being this difficult when she used to this, granted she was a few years younger then…"Whoa." She gasped as they entered the room and she looked at the candles and the rose petals Callie had laid out already. She couldn't help but grin. "You planned this didn't you, you little minx."

"It's kind of our six month anniversary in a way so I just wanted to do something special for you." Callie explained, blushing a little bit. It's been a really long time since she tried anything like this. "Oooff." She grunted as Arizona tossed her on the bed, giggling when Arizona quickly pounced on top of her. "Besides, I'm your minx so it's all good." She smirked, happy that Arizona is clearly pleased with her little set up.

"You bet you are." Arizona stated matter of factly as settled on top of Callie, pressing her down into their bed. "Is this ok?" She asked as her hands started to work to get Callie and herself naked. She had really tried not to make Callie feel trapped the few times they had move love, and she was still wary of possibly triggering her in some way now.

"Very ok." Callie murmured, pushing Arizona's hands away so she can unbutton her shirt herself. "So ok in fact, that you earn a prize." She said huskily as she peeled open her shirt to reveal the very lacy, very revealing push up bra and corset she has on. "The panties match." She added with a wink as Arizona's jaw goes a little slack.

"Whoa momma. That is a nice bra." Arizona blurts out, trying and failing to suppress a growl. It was nice to see Callie in something like that again. She had a slight obsession with Callie's breasts that started about 15 seconds after she saw them the first time. And that fact is no secret to Callie who used to take every chance she could to tease her with them. The idea of getting some of that fun and playful side of their love life back again makes her very excited.

"I thought you'd appreciate it." Callie smirked, feeling all kinds of powerful and sexy that she hasn't felt in a very, very long time. She hasn't worn anything like this since before the attack and it felt good to take back that aspect of herself. Just going shopping for this was a big step for her and one that felt very good to take, like she was taking back a part of herself. Before the attack her and Arizona used to have a passionate and playful love life and she desperately wants that back.

"Oh I do. I so, _so _do." Arizona murmured as she helped Callie out of the shirt and her pants, leaning back on her heels to get a full look at the woman she loved. "You are so sexy." She said honestly, gaze wandering Callie's body before she looked up to meet her eyes. She felt like stating what was clear might help Callie feel good about herself tonight.

"Still?" Callie asked softly, needing to hear it again to believe it. She knows Arizona doesn't feel any differently about her now then she did before she knew about the rape, they had plenty of long, long talks before they ever had sex again. But knowing that in her head and believing it deep down inside are different things. And besides that, being this exposed is still a little nerve-wracking.

"Always." Arizona promised softly as she bent down and kissed the tops of Callie's breasts. "You will always be sexy and hot and beautiful to me. Even when we're 90 and our boobs hang between our knees, we can't hear anymore, and cuddling is a major activity."

"At least you'd be able to play with your favorite part of me while you ate me out." Callie smirked playfully, arching her back as Arizona kept kissing around the edge of her bra. "Oh yes…right there…" She sighed as Arizona ran her hands up her sides, caressing all the right spots.

"Well…that's…um…quite the mental image." Arizona choked out as she tried not to laugh at the comment but it was really hand not to. She didn't want to break the moment so she held it in and just kept kissing Callie's chest until she had enough control to form actual words. "You make me so freaking turned on that I worry that I am going to catch on fire." She smirked, looking up at Callie.

"Don't worry. I'll put it out." Callie moaned, wrapping her legs around Arizona's hips and pulling her down closer. "Hmf, why are you still wearing so many clothes?" She grumbled when she feels that Arizona's still wearing her pants and shirt.

"My mistake." Arizona laughed, pulling out of Callie's grip and stripping down to just her bra and underwear. "Oh wait, time out." She said quickly, jumping up and putting her badge and gun in the gun safe they had in their bedroom before coming back to bed. "You know I could never get off when my gun isn't locked up."

"Yeah, yeah, just get back down here." Callie said, tugging Arizona back onto the bed and over top of her. They haven't made love with Arizona on top yet and she really, really wants to change that. She tried not to think about how she wishes she still had a gun and badge of her own to take off, shoving that tiny voice aside in favor of running her hands down Arizona's back.

"Do you want me to stay like this?" Arizona asked as she ran her thigh against Callie, wanting to make sure that she really felt her. "Or do you want me to move down about 3 feet and have the all you can eat meal?" She raised an eyebrow, holding back a wolfish grin.

"I…mmm…fuck…" Callie gasps, arching her hips up to get more friction and gripping Arizona's back harder. "I want you up here." She manages to get out, really wanting Arizona's mouth on her but wanting to be face to face with her more.

"Then I will." Arizona said simply, overjoyed with that answer. She reached down, contorting herself a little to get both her and Callie's underwear off without actually rolling off the super sexy woman underneath her. Finally she settled back into place, enjoying the feeling of bare skin against bare skin. "I think you should keep the super hot bra on. You know for support or something."

"Whatever you want babe. I don't mind giving you a view." Callie winks, cupping her own bra clad breasts and giving them a playful bounce. Seeing how Arizona's looking at her and the lust in both her expression and her touch is turning her on like nothing else. Not to mention the giant self-confidence boost it is to know Arizona wants this just as much as she does.

There was something in the way Callie was moving and talking tonight that Arizona had been sorely missing. Callie had been almost timid in bed, almost as if she was much more inexperienced then Arizona knows from first hand experience she is, and now she seemed to be back to the way she had been before. It felt good and be able to go toe to toe with her, to have the playful push and pull back and not be so self-conscious of every stray word or action.

"I love you." Arizona grunted out as they started to move against each other. She felt a little rusty at first, but like riding a bike it cam back in no time. It's not like her body would every willingly forget how to have sex with Callie, not in a million years.

"Love you…too…" Callie grunted in return, hooking a leg around Arizona's thigh and arching up to meet her movements as they work to find a rhythm together. They're woefully out of practice, but just like when they first started having sex the chemistry is there and soon it all feels natural again.

"Oh yeah." Arizona moaned as she pushed her face against Callie's neck, panting with the effort of continuing to thrust against Callie's thigh. She had forgotten how much work it could be to do things this way. Maybe she needed to hit the gym a little more and work on her cardio. "Touch me?" She asked, needing a little more than what she was getting to get off.

"Mmm…" Callie moaned at the request, absolutely loving to hear Arizona ask for what she wants and not worry about coming across too demanding. "Gladly." She said as her hand rocketed down to find Arizona's waiting and very needy center. She moaned again when she feels how wet her lover is.

It didn't take very long before Arizona's hand moved down to stroke Callie, wanting to give just as good as she got. It felt really amazing to be able to touch Callie as freely as she was doing, to be able to ask for what she wanted. "Close." She told Callie, her thumb running around Callie's clit.

"Mmhmmm…" Callie grunted, nodding vigorously. Actual words were lost on her as she fought to keep her hand stoking Arizona even while her hips started moving erratically as her orgasm raced closer and closer.

It didn't happen at the same time, or one right after the other, but both women did finally get to where they were heading. Arizona first, and then Callie with a little extra effort mere moments later, both of them crying out with abandon and how damn good it felt to really let go. Good might not actually come close to describing it really, though neither woman formed all that many words outside of expletives for the next several minutes at least.

"That was damn fine love making." Arizona muttered as her fingers pulled out of Callie.

"Oh yeah…" Callie sighed blissfully, closing her eyes as she sunk back onto the bed. "That was…I don't even know what it was it was so good." She sighed again, utterly and completely sated from that orgasm and how it came about. "I'm out of shape though. I mean…damn…" She laughed, still out of breath and no where near ready for another round as quickly as she used to be.

"God I know." Arizona laughed, out of breath herself. "I mean I haven't had to put my hand in that position for that long in a really long time." She smirked as she wrapped the comforter around both of them. "I think we need to hit the gym babe." She winked teasingly at her girlfriend, knowing she would take it as a joke and not act all silly and girly and think she was being insulted.

"Another excuse to get sweaty with you? I'm in." Callie laughed softly, snuggling closer. "Maybe you can get me a guest pass to the gym at your office? I know you love working out in the middle of the day, especially if you're stressed on a big case." She suggested, wanting to be able to spend more time with Arizona if they can arrange it easily.

"I think…" Arizona was about to answer when her work phone went off. She fumbled around in the mess of clothes on the floor before she found it in the pocket of her pants. "Yeah…Yeah, got it. I'll be there in 20." She answered, getting up and starting to get dressed before she even explained anything to Callie. "We have a break in one of our cases. I have to go babe." She said simply as she threw on a clean shirt.

"Really? Now?" Callie sighed, trying not to whine or guilt trip Arizona. It was just different when it wasn't the both of them getting called in. It almost never used to happen that one of them left the other alone in bed, at least not once they both started working in the same FBI office.

"Yeah now. I'm sorry." Arizona zipped her pants up, trying to get her shirt straightened out before realizing that it was on backwards. "This is a big case and I'm the one in charge of it. I need to get there and to do my job." She finished getting dressed, grabbing her badge and gun. "I love you, I'll try to call later." She kissed Callie before heading out.

"Love you too. Be safe!" Callie calls after Arizona as her shoulders slump. Sitting alone in the middle of their king size bed with candles around that have burnt more then halfway down as the sweat from their sex starts to dry isn't how she saw the rest of this night going. "Yeah, pretty much." She sighed as she watched one of the candles sputter and die out.


	11. Chapter 11

It is done!

* * *

Three days after Arizona had to abandon Callie in the middle of a night of passion she walked into her and Callie's home. She could smell Callie cooking them dinner in the kitchen, a smile crossing her face. For the first time she had brought a file home, a case that she was consulting on. Her team wasn't invited to work on it, but one of the detectives asked her to consult on it anyway. There had been a few other occasions where she would have liked to have brought work home, but out of respect for Callie she hadn't. She was sensitive to Callie choice not to return to the FBI and she didn't want to come across as unsupportive.

"Honey, I'm home," Arizona called out as she strode further into their home, feeling the days tension be chipped away at as she entered the sanctuary that was her home with Callie.

"Hey baby." Callie called out, a smile automatically forming on her face. "You're just in time. I made spicy chicken enchiladas." She announced as she pulls a steaming pan from the oven and starts adding a little more cheese.

"Mmm…I love you." Arizona groaned appreciatively. There was almost nothing Callie's cooking couldn't fix, or at least take the edge off. "After we eat I have a case file I need to spend some time with." She said, feeling really odd about having a case and not asking for Callie's help on it, but she didn't want that life anymore and Arizona wasn't going to force her to have it. She was trying to respect Callie not coming back, even if it was really hard to do so. Callie had really worked hard to leave that life behind her and to move on and get better, she didn't want to suck her back in and have Callie hate her for it.

"Oh…um…ok. I was hoping we could cuddle and watch the game together but that's cool. I can watch Dallas get creamed all on my own." Callie smiled, missing a beat as she does though. This is new, Arizona bringing work home, and everything in her wants to help even though they agreed that work and home life had to be as separate as possible to make her leaving work happen smoothly.

"I wish we could watch the game and cuddle instead." Arizona said as she gave Callie a weary smile. "I'll spare you the details since you're not an agent anymore, but this guy has been blowing up one building every two days for the last two weeks. So far they've been abandoned or closed up after hours, but that won't last. That's seven buildings in two weeks and the locals still won't call us in to help." She grumbled, getting a beer out of the fridge.

"Dumb locals." Callie snorted as she sets the food on the table before grabbing plates and a beer of her own. "You sure you don't want to tell me about it? It might help you to get it out of your head a bit." She offered helpfully even if she knew it was a bad idea. It was hard enough not to get sucked back into the field as it was.

"This isn't a case for someone off the team Callie. This case has too many sick little details about it for me to put that on you. You got out. I don't know how you turned it off, but you did. I don't want to drag you back in and have you hate me for it," Arizona whispered, feeling bad turning Callie down, but trying to do the right thing by her. She sat down at the table, trying to get her mind off of this case for a few seconds so she can enjoy dinner and decompress a bit.

"Hey." Callie said softly, resting her hand over Arizona's. "Don't feel bad for doing what I asked and what we agreed on. I just hate not being able to help you that's all." She said, leaning over and kissing Arizona's cheek. "How about I tell you about my day? The Greyson's dog got out again and I had to chase it out of my roses. It must have been a hilarious sight I'm sure. Me running around in my gardening clothes and tripping over the hose as I chased a dog down the street."

"They need to put a fence up for that mutt." Arizona muttered as she gave Callie a weak smile before she started digging into her meal. "Oh I did get you permission to use the gym at work. I forgot your pass and ID but I managed to pull a string or two. You know, if you still want to come work out there with me."

"Awesome." Callie smiled, nodding encouragingly as they shift away from talking about the case. "I can't wait to get back to working out with you. I miss it. I've gone on a few runs on my own but it's not the same. I had my phone and it was in the middle of the day in a busy park." She adds quickly, seeing Arizona's gaze snap to her a little worriedly.

"Did you take your back up with you?" Arizona asked as her head snapped up so she could look at Callie. She had been a little OCD about making sure Callie carried when she was out of the house. And when she was in the house they had one of the most advanced systems protecting it. It went directly to the police and her cell phone.

"Yes mother." Callie said with a playful roll of her eyes. She knows all of the precautions help Arizona stay sane and that she asks stuff like that out of love. "I took my dad's old gun every time and I made sure I stuck to nice open paths with people around. I know the drill."

"You better or I might start having a junior agent tail you to make sure." Arizona muttered, it was an empty threat but not one that Arizona really minded using. "I think Roberts would do it. I nearly made him wet himself the other day." She snorted at the memory.

"Still scaring newbies. Tsk, tsk." Callie scoffed, shaking her head playfully. "Go ahead, get him to trail me. I'll just take him out and send him crying back to Momma." She smirked as she filled her plate with a second helping.

"I'm not sure you could win a fight any more babe." Arizona smirked, knowing this was something that was going to get Callie fake offended. "You are a shape now more than you are in shape." She winked.

"Oh…You did not just go there." Callie says in shock. "No way, you do want to sleep on the couch badly enough to have just gone there. You remember this when I plant you on your ass when we go to the gym."

"I went there babe and I am still there." Arizona grinned unapologetically. She needed this to get over her crappy day. God she missed Callie and her going back and forth. She had never laughed as hard as she did with Callie. "Poke poke." She poked Callie a few times in the belly, trying not to bust out laughing.

"Oh, so you want to sleep on the couch and get no sex. Oh, okay." Callie said nonchalantly, slapping Arizona's hands away as she gets up to start cleaning up from dinner. "No, no. I'm just the soft housewife remember? You just sit back and relax." She snorted.

"Someone is PMSing." Arizona teased, grabbing a few plates after Callie walked away and bring them into the kitchen. "Come on babe, I'm just teasing. I had a really bad day and I needed my beautiful, sexy, smart, funny, amazing girlfriend to make me laugh and forget about it." She put her hands on Callie's hips, standing behind her. "Forgive me?" She asked sweetly, knowing Callie isn't really upset but playing along anyway.

"I don't know, you might have to beg a little better then that to be convincing…" Callie trailed off as Arizona started licking and sucking a trail of kisses over her neck. "Oh. Okay. Um…maybe…maybe I can forgive you." She groaned heartily. Now they were talking.

"I really need to go up to my study and get some work done. This case is going to give me an ulcer if we don't close it soon." Arizona trailed a few more kisses down the back of Callie's neck. "How about you come check on me at half time and if I am fried I'll come watch the game with you?" She said, wanting to not totally blow Callie for the rest of the night.

"You got it babe." Callie agreed, turning and cupping Arizona's cheek. "I love you. You're a rock star and you'll get the bastard doing this. I know you will." She said with nothing but confidence as she leaned in for a tender kiss, trying to remind Arizona of everything she had going for her.

"I love you too. And I really hope you're right." Arizona sighed softly, lingering in Callie's arms for a few more seconds before reluctantly pulling away and heading upstairs.

"We just got a call, he blew up a building in another state. We're on the case. I have to go check out that building. I will call you later. Love you." Arizona announced loudly as she rushed down the stairs about half way though the second quarter of the football game. She rushed out the door, grabbing what she thought was her jacket but was actually Callie's leather one on the way and not sparing another word or glance to her girlfriend as se scrambled into her car.

"Wait? What? Arizona!" Callie called after her, scrambling up and racing behind her, just managing to catch her at the door. She's used to late nights and having her work cases out of town, but this is the first time it's been a really violent one like this where she's been at home and been called in. "Be safe ok? Don't do anything stupid." She demands, pulling Arizona into a hard kiss before reluctantly letting her go. She can't help but feel a little left out as she watches her go though, not liking that Arizona's running off into harms way and she's just…sitting here.

That feeling stayed with her all night as she watched the rest of the game and had a snack before bed. It lingered too as she brushed her teeth and readied herself for bed, slipping into Arizona's side and hugging her lover's pillow tightly. As she drifted off she tried to remind herself that her being here and not in the field was for the best and that she was just anxious because she wasn't with Arizona, not because anything would go wrong. But at just after 1 am the house phone rang, waking her with a jolt and shattering her weak assurances to herself that all was well. Arizona hadn't called or texted Callie since she rushed out of the house that night so she prayed it was just her girlfriend checking in.

"Are you Calliope I. Torres, Agent Arizona Robbins emergency contact?" A voice on the other end of the line asked in a clinical tone.

"Y…yes. That's me." Callie forced out, any sign of sleep or grogginess vanishing as she sat up straighter and clutched the phone tighter. Her heart was already racing at getting woken up at this hour but now it was swiftly sinking into her gut. "What happened? Is…is she ok?"

"Agent Robbins was involved in an explosion. She is banged up, a few ribs were broken and one ear dumb was popped. She is at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence." The nurse explained in an efficient manor.

"Oh god." Callie gasped, hand flying to her mouth as a mix of relief and fear ripped through her. She was relieved Arizona was alive but scared that she was hurt and stuck in the hospital all alone. "So she's hurt but ok? Can I talk to her?" She asked, already throwing clothes on and trying to figure out the fastest way to get to where Arizona was.

"She has to stay over night for testing. But so far everything has come back pretty normal. She's having a scan done now so I'm afraid you can't speak to her." The nurse explained, trying to be helpful without giving too many details over the phone.

"Alright…um…I'm on my way. She'll say I shouldn't bother but too bad. Can you tell her that I love her and that I'll be there as soon as I can?" Callie asks as she stuffs her feet into shoes. She plans on breaking just about every traffic law in her rush to drive and be at Arizona's side.

"That will be all Roberts. I will fill out my full report when I'm in tomorrow." Arizona told the junior agent, sitting up in bed talking to him when Callie arrived. She knew Callie wasn't going to like that very much but she wasn't going to let that stop her. Her job had to get done by her after all.

"Can't leave you alone for 5 minutes can I?" Callie finally said, breaking out of her frozen state and moving to Arizona's side after she just stood and stared at her lover. The young junior agent glanced at her before looking back to Arizona and then packing up to leave, offering a weak smile as he slipped past her.

"We went to talk to a witness and it turned out he was the guy doing all of this. Blew his house up so he wouldn't get taken alive." Arizona muttered, giving her girlfriend a weak smile. "Can't take me anywhere, right?" She ran her hand though her hair, wincing a little bit. "But I'll be fine in a few days. I don't plan on taking any time off of this anyway."

"The hell you aren't. You have broken ribs. You are not rushing back to work without at least resting up for a day or two." Callie said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

"Callie how many times over the years have both of us had something like this happen? We always made it back to work the next day. Come on babe, I might be getting a little older but I'm not that old yet." Arizona laughed off Callie's worries.

"You're not invincible either damn it." Callie snaps, her fear and worry getting the best of her. She could have lost Arizona. A few seconds later, a misstep here or there…she could have lost her and she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. She wouldn't have been there.

"Callie…Hey…" Arizona said softly, reaching out to take Callie's hand, hating that she could see fear written all over her face. "I'll take a day off to rest up. I can see you are scared and I don't want to do that to you. You don't deserve that." She whispered, hating that her job caused her to be in danger. That danger used to turn them both on, get them running hot and heavy, now it looked like it just made Callie scared.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. It's just…they called and asked if I was your emergency contact and I thought the worst. I was so scared. And then on the drive here I just felt so guilty for not having your back. I should have been here, if I was still in I would have been." Callie said as she ran a hand through her frazzled hair, guilt written all over her face.

"It's ok." Arizona said softly, squeezing Callie's hand. She knew that at some point this was going to happen. She was going to get hurt or something would happen and Callie would feel bad for not having her back, for not being there like she has so many times before. She just thought it would take longer. "You don't want to be an agent anymore, that means you aren't at places like I was tonight doing what I was doing. You can't come back just to protect me, it would tear up apart. You know what it would do if you came back just for that." She reminded her girlfriend gently.

"Yeah, maybe." Callie sighed, sinking down in the chair at Arizona's bedside and pulling it closer. "You're probably right. But can you take that day off and stay home with me? I just need to really see for myself that you're ok." She sighed, taking Arizona's hand in hers and trying to figure out what she's feeling.

"I will take the day off and stay home with you. You can put on a hot nurse's uniform and make sure that my pillows are fluffed and that I am drinking my juice." Arizona tried to give Callie a smile, wanting to make her feel better.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I'm being so neurotic." Callie sighed again, feeling her adrenaline fade and her exhaustion take root. "I just hate you being hurt and I hate not being able to do anything to prevent it." She murmured softly, lifting Arizona's hand and kissing it tenderly.

"I don't really like it either. You and I have never really done the couple thing without us both being agents. We just have to learn how to do things this way." Arizona said, knowing that was easier said then done when it came to some things. Not seeing Callie around the office was one thing, but not having her on a raid or interrogation was entirely different. She'd hated not having Callie as back up today, but there was no way she would say that and add to Callie's guilt.

"Yeah I guess it's a learning curve just like everything else right?" Callie said with a small smile, wanting to believe that they could adjust ok. "We'll sort it out. Just hopefully not because we get used to situations like this. I don't want you getting hurt like this whether I'm there to watch your ass or not." She told Arizona, poking her side lightly in a playful fashion, though her expression was serious.

It was another three weeks after being injured before Arizona had a new case of any real note. She hated to admit it but she really wanted to break her rule and call Callie in on it that's how much it got to her. She just had a gut feeling that this was going to be a bad one and her gut wasn't usually wrong. It was the type of case that Callie was always really good at figuring out too which didn't really help her resolve much. 10 year old girls were being taken and then showing up 1 year to the day later with no memory of anything at all. She worked on the case until far after dark, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it and with no knew victims, or at least ones they knew about for sure, there were no crime scenes to go comb over. The case took too long to show a pattern, to get noticed, and then to find it's way to her desk. She had no idea how her team was supposed to make headway on it. Finally she waved the white flag and went home for the night, the case files in her bag.

"Babe, you up?" Arizona called once she was inside, hoping if Callie was sleeping she didn't wake her up.

"Hey, I'm up, I'm totally up." Callie snorted, sitting up straighter from where she was dozing on the couch. "Arizona, hey, you're home. I ended up eating without you but let me heat something up for you." She offered, knowing it must have been a hard day if Arizona was only now getting home.

"I'm really not hungry." Arizona protested, leaning over and kissing Callie on the forehead. "I am going to try to get a little work done in my office. I have been at it all day but I know I am close. This bastard will be taking another girl in the next week or so and I really want to figure it out before then and keep that from happening." She muttered, her eyelids dropping a little bit. "Could you bring me some hot tea up?"

"I can." Callie said with a frown, hating when Arizona pushed so hard. "I'd tell you to take a break but I know you won't listen and I don't want to pick a fight right now. But I am going to bring up dinner too, you need to keep your strength up."

"I grabbed some chips from the vending machine at work about an hour ago. Really babe I'm not hungry." Arizona kissed her forehead again, a clear sign that she had her mind on something else. With just a tired smile and nothing else to say she headed upstairs, trying to fight off sleep.

"Liar." Callie muttered under her breath, sighing as she watched Arizona head sluggishly upstairs. Going to get the tea ready she also got a plate of dinner ready and heated it up, to hell with what Arizona said, she knew she was hungry. Once it was all set she filled a tray and headed upstairs, poking her head into Arizona's study. "Hey honey."

Arizona was slumped over the desk, papers all around her on the desk, as she snored lightly and even drooled a little bit. The long days that she had been putting in on this case had finally caused her to crash. Child abduction cases were the ones that hit her like rape cases hit Callie so she always worked them as hard as she could and tried to get them done just a little faster than anything else.

"Oh sweetie." Callie sighed, setting the tray down on the coffee table in front of the fireplace before starting to clean up the papers. As she cleaned up though she couldn't help but read bits and pieces and with every word she read she got sucked deeper and deeper back into a world she only so recently left. With a glance at Arizona she took the papers over to the coffee table and plopped down on the couch to go over them. She started munching absently on the crackers she brought up with the soup as part of Arizona's dinner as she read over the case start to finish.

The facts of each case were more or less the same. On the first of June a girl went missing from an upper middle class area of the city. Two weeks later there was a letter in the mail telling her parents she would be returned in a year and to not worry. One year to the day she went missing she was brought to a hospital, torture marks from head to toe and a Roman numeral burned into her back. None of the girls had any memory of anything from the day they went missing until they turned up at the hospital. Forensic evidence was next to none at that point, and the exact sights of the abductions hadn't even been pinpointed in most cases.

Callie poured over detail after detail, hunching over and trying to decipher Arizona's scrawling writing along with several others who added notes. A few things started to click into place but she couldn't quite nail it down yet. Just as she was getting close she heard Arizona stir and hurriedly started packing up, knowing Arizona wouldn't appreciate her snooping. Plus she wasn't sure how she herself feels about having snooped. She was the one who wanted to get out of the FBI, to get away from this life, and no matter how hard it had been the time way had done her a lot of good. Could she really just jump back in now?

"Hey sweetie, wake up." Callie said gently, rubbing Arizona's back to soothe her awake.

"No Mr. President." Arizona muttered as she comes out of a dream. Wiping her mouth she looked around, seeing that she was in her office in the house she and Callie shared. "Sorry, I must have dosed off a little." She muttered through a yawn, looking at her desk and seeing it was picked up. "You always were a neat freak when it came to cases. Thanks."

"I didn't want you drooling on them, and I knew you'd be rushing to get them together in the morning." Callie explained, kissing Arizona's temple. It's all true, just not the whole truth. "Come on, let's get you to bed before you get so stiff you can't function tomorrow. The case will still be there after a decent nights sleep." She urged, brushing some hair out of Arizona's eyes.

"You are the best girlfriend in the world." Arizona stood up, rotating her neck so she could try to loosen it. Taking Callie's hand and walking out of the office and down the hall to their bedroom she had no idea both she and Callie had their minds on the case. Stripping down and getting into bed once in their bedroom she was asleep again in a matter of seconds.

"You always were better at that then me." Callie murmured, marveling like always at how Arizona could just pass out even with a tough case on her brain. Cuddling up close to Arizona she took a little longer to drift off but finally managed it, the case weighting heavily on her subconscious.

Arizona drove into work the next day with the case still on her mind, only vaguely remembering Callie helping her to bed. She felt bad about being so absent and just crashing when Callie wanted to spend time together, but she knew her girlfriend would understand. Besides, this wasn't the sort of case she could just turn off when she got home, it was too big for that. Her team was already there when she got there, assembled in the conference room with files spread out around them. Walking into the room she looked over her team; Meredith Grey, Lexie Grey, Miranda Bailey, and ark Sloan, a mix of experience, raw talent, and skill that she was proud to lead. "Has anyone been able to think of anything for the profile of the 1 year Abductor?" Arizona asked, using the name given to him by the media.

"Nothing Boss, sorry." Mark said, sitting at the far back end of the room. He's not sure what exactly is up with his new Boss but she always seems a little easier to piss off if he was talking. "Little Grey and I spent most of last night trying to hash out some kind of pattern in location but nothing."

"I have run every single one of them through the database and I haven't been able to find a single connection to them. There is some overlap in the doctors, but there are only a few, so that is to be expected," Lexie piped up, trying to be helpful. Not only was she the youngest member of the team, but she was on it with her sister, who had just gotten a shiny new commendation.

"Nothing? A team of the smartest agents around and we can't come up with anything at all." Arizona groaned, running her hand through her hair in frustration. "Get some coffee and get back at this, we're running out of time and I do not want to have to apologize to another family. Sloan no running off into an on-call room with a secretary." She barked out as the team dispersed to get food and much needed coffee.

Sighing heavily she pushed to her feet and walked down the hall toward her office. Making a small detour to the break room she grabbed three donuts and a large cup of coffee, regretting skipping out on the breakfast Callie was just starting as she was leaving. She could have been a few minutes late; she was the team leader after all. Three doughnuts might be overkill to most but she wanted to be able to stress eat without having to get up to get more when she ran out. The case was going to make her need new pants if it went on much longer.

"Hey." Callie said nervously, jumping up from her chair when Arizona walked into her office. "How's your morning going?" She asked, wringing her hands a bit, a clear tell that she's nervous. She made it all of a half hour after Arizona left before she was getting ready and driving here too, sneaking her way into Arizona's office and waiting for her to show up.

"So far we have nothing with a little bit of nada on top with not a damn thing sprinkles." Arizona said as she kissed Callie's cheek before she sat down in her chair. "Not that seeing you right now doesn't make me happy, because seeing you always makes me happy, but what are you doing here?" She asked as she took a big bite of one of her donuts, trying to figure out why Callie was here and why she looked so nervous.

"I wanted to talk to you about the case you're working on. I…um…I have a confession to make. I read through it last night when I came up and found you asleep. I didn't mean too, I just couldn't help, so I'm sorry for prying." Callie said quickly, feeling more nervous the more she revealed. "I think I've figured it out though. I mean maybe. I'm kind of rusty, but…" She trailed off, waiting for some sort of reaction or response from Arizona.

"You read the case file." Arizona states blankly, not sure how to feel about that. On one hand, Callie was one of the most brilliant profilers and FBI agents she had ever known. On the other hand, she wasn't an agent anymore. "Why don't you tell me what you think and then let my team handle it? You're not an agent anymore honey." She finally said, trying to have the best of both worlds, a Callie Torres profile and Callie not working the case.

"It was in my head all last night and this morning and it finally clicked," Callie said, feeling both excited and nervous as she got up and started to pace a little. "You couldn't find any connections between them right? But there is one you didn't think to look at, the security guards. Remember that strangler case in Houston at those high-end apartment buildings? Well it turned out to be the security guard then so I thought to check for this case and what do you know, the same company handles security for all the doctors' offices these girls went to. I made a call and looked into it, and the same guy has worked regularly at all these offices. Plus, he always takes the first week of June off every year."

"Hmm…" Arizona hummed thoughtfully, lifting her fingers to her lips and trying to figure it all out in her head. This was a case she would be very happy to be done with, and this seemed like it could be just the clue that they needed. She just hoped this would really be the end of it. "I will get Lexie to run the names though the system and see if there is anything in his past or on his credit cards. We can talk to him as a witness and see if there is something there." She finally says as she reaches for her phone, calling Lexie and telling her what to do. "I wish you were still on the team, honey. That was great thinking." She said after she hung up, looking over at Callie wistfully.

"I know right." Callie grinned triumphantly, feeling a rush she hasn't felt in months as she focuses on Arizona agreeing she might have found the lead they needed. "It would make sense with the amnesia since he'd have access to drugs without causing too much suspicion. He obviously doesn't want to kill them so he knows that he's going to release them and doesn't want them knowing who he is. They can feel pain and get him off without being totally lucid is my guess." She said, making a face. She's all for the law, but some perps she just wants to take out back and shoot.

"I love you and I thank you. But unless you want your badge and gun back I am going to need you to go so I can go catch this son of a bitch. I will see you at home tonight." Arizona said as she stood up, moving around her desk and giving her girlfriend a tight hug and a kiss. It killed her to do this, but knew she needed to be strong for both of them and make sure Callie stayed out if that's what she still wanted.

"Oh, right. Yeah ok." Callie said, her smile slipping a little bit. "Yeah, you go be awesome and I'll have pizza and beer waiting for you when you get home to celebrate." She smiled, kissing her soundly. "And hey, go ahead and take credit with the team for this and boost your image." She winked playfully, knowing Arizona image was far from in trouble.

"I love you." Arizona said softly as she rubbed Callie's ass for good luck before almost running out of her office. By the time she got to Lexie's they had found enough for a warrant to search the guys house, and after a call to secure it they were headed off. Arizona has the feeling in her gut she always got right before a case wrapped up, that mix of excitement, nerves, and the rush that you're going to make the bad guys pay.

Meanwhile Callie headed home and tidied up a bit, moving aimlessly as her mind raced a mile a minute. That feeling she felt when it clicked and she knew she had a break in the case was the same one she felt when she told Arizona about it. And it felt good. Without realizing it she ended up sitting on the living room floor going through old photos and other mementos of her years serving. She gave it all up and she has been happy but…was she _really_ ready to hang up her gun? For good? She thought she was, but now she wasn't so sure.

"We got the son of a bitch. Drugs in his hand with his other hand around a poor girl's throat, both of them naked in his torture room. There is no way that he is going to get off on this one. We fucking nailed him." Arizona announced with the closest thing to glee you can when talking about something like that as she walked though the door with a stupidly happy grin on her face. She grinned, stopping when she saw Callie on the floor with all the photos that she was looking at. Callie had a sentimental side that rarely came out for anyone but her, and when she got to looking at old photos and things it usually meant something was bothering her.

"That's awesome baby. I knew you'd do it." Callie said as happily as she could manage, pushing a smile to her face as she shook her head to clear it and started shoving everything back into its box. They were all things she hadn't looked at in a very, very long time, even with her progress in therapy.

"What are you looking at?" Arizona asked as she sat down on the couch near Callie. Leaning down she reached out and picked a photo up. It was from the day they became official agents, one of the happiest days of her life and one of her proudest too. Their arms were around each other's waist and the huge grins on their faces couldn't possibly have gotten any bigger. "I remember thinking we were going to always have each other to work with. That it was always going to be that easy." She said softly, running her finger over the smiling faces.

"Me too. Even then I think I knew I wanted forever with you." Callie said softly as she stood up and moved to sit on the couch, finding Arizona's hand as she sat down next to her. "I forgot to order pizza, I got a little sidetracked with all this. I don't even know why I started looking at them I just did and then I couldn't stop." She said, picking up a photo of when she got her first commendation, Arizona smiling proudly beside her.

"Baby you are happy not being an agent, aren't you?" Arizona asked, trying to figure out if this was the start of Callie deciding she wanted to come back or just a bad day. She knew Callie would always be able to turn it on and be that great agent she always had been. But the real question was could she turn it off for good? She thought she'd been doing a surprisingly good job at it, but part of her hadn't stopped wondering if Callie would ever regret things and want to come back.

"I…uh…I thought so. I think I mostly am but…today, cracking that case, feeling that again…I don't know." Callie sighed, glancing over at Arizona and then picking up another photo. "It felt different today then it has in years. Winning always feels good but today it felt better because I'm better and we were doing it together." She explained, or tried to anayway, running her finger over the face over a much younger version of Arizona.

"Do you want to be an agent again?" Arizona whispered softly, reaching her hand down to rest on Callie's knee. The question was one she thought she knew the answer to before today, but Callie was making it really hard to figure out what her next move would be. "Do you want to work for the FBI again?" She asked, trying not to get her hopes up for a yes or too sound too eager and pressure Callie.

"I think I do." Callie answered slowly, taking a deep breath. Part of her still had doubts, and no doubt her next therapy session would be full of talking about this, but she finally saw that she couldn't just walk away like that, not when Arizona was still so in. "I love my life and I love woodworking and cooking and being at home, but it's not the same. I can live without doing all that, but not without being your partner. That's what it boils down to I think, being back with you at work. If you retired tomorrow, I would happily follow suit, but if you're out there chasing the bad guys then I need to be doing that too."

"Damn it." Arizona muttered softly, standing up and walking over to the jacket that she wore to work every day. She hoped this was the right thing to do, because if it wasn't…Well that would suck. Out of the inside pocket of the jacket she pulled Callie's badge, walking over she handed it to her. "Tomorrow show up and get a new ID. I will take care of the rest." She said simply as she sat back down, giving her lover a warm smile.

"But how did you…I turned this over to Bennet along with my sidearm. I filed the paperwork and everything, signed it…How…" Callie said in disbelief as she looked at the badge and then looked up at Arizona's smiling and happy face.

"Bennet owed me a favor so I had him hold the paper work until I was sure that you wouldn't want to come back. Officially you have been on leave and not retired. I got you medically and stress leave for a while, and you had a load of vacation time banked up so I had him cash in a bit of that too." Arizona explained, still smiling. She knew it was a big risk when she did it, but she had to be sure Callie wouldn't want back in before she let her leave.

"On leave? Wow that must have been a hell of a favor." Callie said, gingerly holding her badge almost as if it's fragile. "Are you ok with this? I know it was hard accepting that I wanted out but you've been so great and so supportive. You've been amazing. I don't want you thinking I'm doing this just for you or out of guilt."

"I have been hoping that you would get bitten by the bug again. I was hoping it would be sooner but I knew if you came to it you had to come at your own pace." Arizona said, her heart skipping a beat when she saw Callie holding her badge again. "You have an open offer to be on my team but I understand if you don't want that."

"What? Why wouldn't I want that?" Callie asked in surprise, looking up from her badge to stare at Arizona in shock. She knows that they've talked about some of the downsides to working together all those years ago, but it's different now. They're different, stronger.

"Just trying to be supportive if you didn't want to work with me." Arizona defended, putting her hands up in surrender. "I want you working with me. Trust me." Arizona said, seeing the look of shock on Callie's face. "I need my #2 back."

"Ok, good." Callie stated firmly, giving a nod of her head to emphasize things. "You know I hate answering to anyone but you. And besides, your team is good, but everyone but Mark is kind of green." She says, knowing working with Mark again will be interesting considering he's completely in the dark about what happened years ago when they were sort of partners on the case while Arizona was in Texas. "I want to ride into work together and stay up nights working cases and eating too much take out. I want that part of us back. I miss that."

"I love the idea of us going into work together." Arizona grinned like a teenager in love. "I promise that I will be a good boss, a fair boss, a boss that accepts sexual favors." She said, still grinning like an absolute fool. She loved everything about the idea of Callie being back at work, being back on her team. Callie was right, they were different now. Better, stronger, even more in love then they'd ever been, and a million billion times better at talking and communicating.

"Oh really?" Callie smirked widely. "Is that a hint that you'd like me kneeling under your desk ready to start your day off with an orgasm on Monday? You know, so I get on your good side." She teased, getting a little hot and bothered at the idea as looked over at Arizona.

"I wouldn't mind it." Arizona smirked at Callie's suggestion. "Though just make sure you go to the right office. I wouldn't want you under someone else's desk when they sit down. They might not be as excited to have you there as I would be." She leaned over to give Callie a kiss. "How about a little hot tub time and then dinner?" She asked, wanting some closeness with Callie. And you know, the nakedness wouldn't hurt either.

"Oh crap! I forgot to order." Callie said in disappointment as she remembered that she hadn't gotten around to ordering them pizza. "You go get naked and wet and I'll call in our usual order for delivery in oh…say…3 hours?" She smirked, leaning in for a sultry kiss. They have lots of celebrating to do now, 3 hours ought to be enough for round one. They'll need to refuel by then at the very least. She can't quite believe that this is how tonight is going for them but damn she's glad it is. She's feeling better every second about her choice to come back to the FBI and work with Arizona. Everything else in her life has been falling into place over the last 6 months and now it's like the last piece of the puzzle is fitting place.


End file.
